The Awakening
by My-Bella
Summary: A Halloween-inspired darker ending to Year Two. Rated "M" for suggestive & harsh language, and dark themes. This is a departure from my normal writing, so be ware!
1. It's Time

**A short note:**

I **LOVE** Halloween. I have ever since I was a little kid. I was that kid fascinated with horror movies and stripping apart special effects to find out how they made that movie magic happen. I was reading Agatha Christie, Dean Koontz, and Stephen King by the sixth grade, scaring myself silly with them and loving every minute. So for me, this is my dark little masterpiece. Don't worry though! It's got lots of humor and lovey-dovey feel good stuff that the Cullens are known for. It's different from anything else I've ever written and I really like this one. I hope you will too.

This is only a SPOOF and is not intended to replace anything about Year Two. I still stand by my dream ending because that will always be the true, meaningful ending for me. It taught them to both put aside their childish ideals and deal with each other realistically and not on the idea that things will be perfect as long as Edward thinks it will.

Some of this is based in science and might actually be able to work, but overall, it's fantasy. Eight against an untold number is just prolonging the outcome. And it's not a good outcome for our lovable Cullen family.

With Goblins & Ghouls,

My-Bella

**EBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEB**

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:It's Time**

**Chapter Song:Innocent by Fuel**

**Bella's POV:  
**

Poor Jasper. I knew I was driving him crazy, but I couldn't help it. Edward was holding me tightly, whispering words of love and encouragement, but it wasn't working. We would be landing in Rome in ten minutes. We would be in Volterra within hours. This was the day that would decide the rest of my life. Would I be allowed to live in peace with my husband and our family? Or would I have to fight for what I wanted?

If they wanted a fight, I would give them one. Edward and Carlisle were still the only ones aware of my ability to drain other vampires. That ability, added with the fighting skills the boys had taught me, made me one very dangerous vampire. Hopefully, I could keep that information to myself and not have to use it.

I had been practicing gradual draining while fighting with Emmett and Jasper. It didn't make too much of a difference with Jasper since he had a very technical fighting style, always planning a counter-move. But for someone like Emmett who relied on brute strength—which I believed most of the guard would—it was a major plus on my side. Not to mention that my small size made me look like an easy target. But I never cheated when I fought Emmett. I always gave him back his energy before we got down to the final minutes of our fight. That way, our wins and losses would always be real and count. I would never cheat my big brother…unless I was playing poker with him and wanted to prank him. But I had only done that once.

I chuckled to myself, earning a concerned look from Edward. He had been trying to lighten my mood for the entire plane flight and this was the first time I had relaxed.

"Bella?"

"I was thinking about you. About how we fooled Emmett in the poker game that time."

Edward smiled and kissed my cheek softly. "That was a good day."

The seatbelt light flashed and Edward deposited me into my seat and buckled me in. I held tightly to his hand, hoping these weren't our final hours together, and determined to make sure that they weren't.

"Bella, I know this is hard for you, but flipping from anxiety to determination like you are is seriously starting to wear on me. Please calm down," Jasper pleaded.

"Sorry, Jazz. I'll try harder," I promised.

The plane landed and we all stepped off, making our way over to baggage claim. We had packed light, with the men saying it would make it easier for us to travel to our separate destinations later on, where we could pick up more things along the way. I wasn't so sure about that reasoning. I knew Carlisle and Jasper had been spending a lot of time together recently, but I had no idea what they were up to. And if Edward knew, he was certainly hiding it well.

Alice kept assuring all of us that she saw us in our separate destinations, having a good time. It worried me that she couldn't see anything at all of the actual meeting. It meant that there were too many decisions that could change; too many factors.

Much sooner than I wanted, we were approaching the walls of the city. I shivered against Edward's side, doing my best to reign in my emotions for Jasper's sake. He had to have been just as apprehensive, knowing Aro expressed interest in Alice.

When Carlisle parked the vehicle, he turned and looked back at us. His voice was authoritative, calm, and reassuring, all at once. "This is only a formality, nothing more. I doubt we will even be required to spend much time in the building as long as we remain close to the city. No one is to say anything or make any move without my permission. Emmett, I am trusting you to know this is not the time for jokes or rash behavior. We do not want to give the Volturi any reason to fight us. It's very important that we stress as much as possible that we are a family, not a coven. We want to show that we are only looking to live peacefully, not rule anyone or anything. Is that clear?"

We all gave a nod of our heads to him.

He smiled at us and took Esme's hand into his own. "We are walking in there as a family of eight and we are leaving the same way. You have put your trust in me for one reason or another over the years. Let today be the day that you trust me the most. Now, let's go inside and satisfy Aro's curiosity once and for all."

Edward opened the back door and slid out, pulling me along with him since I was still refusing to let go of his hand. He didn't seem to mind, though, as he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

I grabbed him up in a tight hug. "I love you, Edward Cullen."

He pressed his face into my hair and breathed deeply. "I love you, too, Isabella Cullen. And Carlisle is right; we will put our faith in him and leave here as we have come—a complete family."

I nodded and released him. Alice took my free hand while her other hand was locked firmly in Jasper's grip. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett walked in front of us, their hands linked in a similar fashion. When we came closer to the entrance doors, we broke off into couples, with Carlisle and Esme in the lead, and Jasper and Alice bringing up the rear.

Alec was waiting in the lobby of the building, an evil little smirk on his face as he watched us enter. "Carlisle, it's lovely to see the entire Cullen family. Aro will be pleased to see that you kept your word."

"Alec, Aro knew all along that I would keep my word," Carlisle replied calmly. "Now, if you could kindly take us to him. We have been traveling for a number of hours and would like to get this over with so that we may check into our hotel."

"Right this way," Alec bowed, still smirking.

He led us down a hallway and past Giana's office. I was amazed that she was actually still here and still very much human; she didn't even look up as we strolled past.

After a few turns, we were standing before a huge wooden door. Alec pushed it open and we entered a small room with three large chairs at the front and a number of guards lining the walls. Jane was standing near the chairs and I noticed Felix standing in the corner behind her. I was glad that there was no sign of Demetri.

"Jane, darling," Alec called, "would you be so kind as to let Aro and the others know that the Cullen coven has arrived?"

"_Family_," Carlisle corrected. "My _family_ has arrived."

"Yes, of course," Alec responded.

Jane left the room, but not before glaring at Edward and me. Carlisle took ahold of my hand and brought me forward so that Edward and I were standing between Esme and him. Rose and Emmett moved to Esme's side while Jasper and Alice stood on Carlisle's.

The wait wasn't long, but it felt like it took forever for the three vampires to arrive. Aro was beaming, Caius was scowling and Marcus…I think he was the first vampire to ever look bewildered. Yes, bewildered was the perfect word. It was beyond shock and surprise, which must have been a very rare thing for someone as old as Marcus to experience. Marcus had the power to see relationships, to know how deep or fragile a connection between two vampires truly was. Obviously, Edward's and mine was more than he had expected.

Aro chuckled darkly as he sat down in the middle chair. "It seems Marcus is impressed and I haven't even had to touch him to know that. We are all so very pleased to have you with us."

"She's been changed," Caius said in a bored voice. "What more is there to do?"

"I would like to hear what Marcus thinks of dear Bella and Edward's relationship," Aro answered.

Marcus stared at Edward and me for a long time, making me extremely uncomfortable. Finally, he sat down in his chair, slightly shaking his head. "Release her hand," Marcus ordered Edward.

I looked up at Edward. His lips were pressed into a thin white line, but he nodded and released my hand. Aro was touching Marcus's hand again, both of them staring at Edward and me.

"Interesting," Aro chuckled, releasing Marcus's hand.

Edward immediately took my hand back into his again, holding it with both of his and placing a small kiss on the back of it. I smiled at him, glad to have his touch back.

"He stands next to her and yet she yearns for him as if he's miles away," Marcus commented. "I have never seen anything like it. And if that wasn't enough, his emotions mirror hers. Their relationship is the youngest of the four, yet it is the strongest."

"Hmmm," Aro muttered, tapping his fingertips together. "How interesting. And complicated."

"It's merely a result of them nearly losing each other," Carlisle explained. "They already know what the pain of loss feels like and they do all they can to avoid feeling it again. I'm sure if we had been in similar situations, we would be bonded as strongly."

"Ah, but you weren't, Carlisle," Aro noted. "He fell in love with her as a human."

"And I have kept my word and she is now a vampire," Edward said. "We wish only to live together as a family, peacefully."

"Do you still believe you have no soul, Edward?" Aro asked.

"No," Marcus answered, causing us all to turn toward him again. "That's the other puzzling thing about all of this. His entire view of himself has changed. Not completely, but enough to know that it is a mirror of how she views him."

"Edward, is Marcus correct?" Aro chuckled. "Has dear Bella affected you that greatly?"

Edward clenched his jaw tightly. I had no idea what Aro was thinking and from the tension in Edward's body, I didn't want to know. "No, Aro. Bella does not have the power of persuasion, or the power to alter perception. She doesn't have any powers, except to keep her mind as her own, just as she did when she was human. What she does have is a loving heart and it is her love for me that has changed me, nothing more and nothing less."

"Love," Aro scoffed.

"Carlisle?" Rose asked. "May I?"

Edward shot Rose a look, but immediately softened his features. I wondered what Rose was thinking to cause such a reaction in Edward. Edward nodded to Carlisle and he in turn, gave his approval to Rose.

Rose held her hand out toward Aro. "Bella's love has not changed Edward alone, but every member of our family. She has changed my life almost as much as she has changed Edward's. I want to show you what her love is capable of."

Aro stood and walked over to Rose, putting his finger in the palm of her outstretched hand. His face was impassive as he sorted through Rose's memories. But it must have been working because when Aro pulled away, Edward relaxed.

"Fascinating. Simply fascinating. A woman as beautiful as you, stricken with self-loathing. It's nearly a crime. But you no longer feel that way…at least not as strongly," Aro mused.

Rose lowered her hand and Aro walked down the line toward me. I held my ground, refusing to allow myself to step away from Aro.

"I had wondered how our little Stephen was captured," Aro chuckled.

I felt the growl in Edward's chest, but he kept it from coming out.

"Aro?" Carlisle questioned, barely controlling his own anger. "You sent that monster after my daughter?"

"Of course not, Carlisle," Aro replied, smirking. "He was only supposed to keep an eye on her, watch for the development of powers…The fact that he was completely unhinged was an interesting little surprise." Aro made that damn chuckling noise again and I wanted to punch him right in his damn mouth.

Edward tightened his grip on my hand, having sensed my anger. But I was in control of it today; I was not about to lash out and give the asshole in front of me a reason to hurt my family.

Aro chuckled again before going to his seat. "I must say, I was shocked Stephen wasn't disposed of when his dementia was uncovered."

"As we have said many times, Aro, we prefer peace over fighting," Carlisle stated.

Aro waved his hand in the air, dismissing Carlisle completely. "Marcus, what else can you tell us about their relationship?"

"It is stronger than any I have ever seen. It's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Separation would kill them both within hours, not even days," Marcus explained. "They would be absolutely useless alone. Together, they are…I'm not even sure, Aro." Marcus shook his head again, as if that would make it any clearer to him.

Marcus brought his hand up and Aro touched it, seeing his view of us. Aro chuckled again. I hated that damn laugh of his.

"So she's a vampire and they need each other? How quaint! Can we send them on their way now?" Caius questioned.

"Patience, Caius," Aro said. "I'm curious as to what would happen if we sent Edward from the room?"

My mind started racing, going through all of the ways I could lose Edward if he really left the room. I let go of Edward and Carlisle, grabbing at my head to try and still the images. If I still had a heart that beat, it would surely be trying to jump from my chest. I could hear Edward calling my name, but I couldn't answer him. I couldn't do anything until I stopped myself from panicking. I knew I had to do this myself to keep Jasper's gift a secret. Only I couldn't seem to stop and the blackness took over…

I had no idea how much time had passed and awareness was slowly returning to me. I knew I had made a huge mistake and put my family in even more danger, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. I'd tried so hard to rein it in, but the mere thought of losing Edward had always been able to send me into a fit of panic.

"She's coming around," Alice chirped from somewhere close by.

"I never would have thought in all of my days that I would see a vampire faint," Aro chuckled.

"It's a reaction to your goading," Carlisle said tersely. "Her mind is as unique now as when she was a human. It has never granted her any powers, but it still works to protect her. When she becomes worried, it shuts down on her to protect her. Had you not been looking for powers that do not exist, and threatening to remove Edward from the room, she would not be lying in my son's arms right now."

That's why I felt so much better! Edward was holding me and humming my lullaby. I fought harder to completely wake up so that I could see him and talk to him. I wanted to let him know that I was okay and that I was sorry.

"My apologies, old friend," Aro said, sounding anything but sincere. "It was never my intent to harm dear Bella. I was only curious about her and her bond with Edward."

"A fainting vampire?" Caius called in a bored tone. "What's next, Aro? Will you show us a vampire who can control emotions?"

"You would have to find one very extraordinary human for that to occur," Aro chuckled. "Humans aren't capable of that much empathy. Look at their wars and their greed!"

I breathed a sigh of relief that was thankfully interpreted as a sign I was truly waking. Jasper was still safe and that had been my immediate concern. If he had used his powers to calm me, it would have put him in even more danger.

"Bella, please open your eyes," Edward pleaded, running his hands along my cheeks.

My eyes slowly fluttered open and immediately searched out his topaz eyes. They were filled with concern, but not so much that I was worried Aro suspected anything. "Hello, Edward," I whispered, reaching out and touching his face.

He smiled and leaned into my hand. "Hello, Love. You really have to stop scaring me like this."

"Yes, I do recall promising that fainting right before finals would be the last time. Sorry about that," I joked, returning his smile.

"Bella?" Carlisle called, turning my face toward him. "Do you remember where we are and what happened?"

"Yes, but it's slightly fuzzy. I know we're in Italy and that I panicked, but I can't put my finger on why just yet," I lied. If we were going to sell this fainting thing as a byproduct of my freaky brain, I was going to need to play up the confusion angle.

"That's to be expected, Bella," Carlisle chuckled. "I'm sure it will become completely clear within minutes, just like the last time."

"At least she didn't break a coffee table this time," Emmett snorted from somewhere close by.

"Don't tease your little sister," Esme scolded. "At least not until she's aware enough to tease back."

"Sister, brother, father, mother…you really do fancy yourselves as a family," Caius mused.

"We _are_ a family," Carlisle corrected, helping Edward to get me onto my feet. "We are a family in all of the ways that count. We love each other, we support each other, and we spend every day being grateful for each other. We only want to live our life, peacefully and in the way we see fit. Aro, you know I value you as a friend, but these interruptions have got to stop. We have shown you that we honor our promises and Bella has become one of us. There is no reason to trouble us any further."

"I agree with Carlisle," Marcus stated. "If you discount the fainting and the bond, Bella is an unremarkable vampire. She offers nothing to our guard."

"But Edward and dear Alice would be such wonderful additions," Aro chuckled.

"Not without their mates who have no desire to live here among us. Making them all miserable by forcing them will only make us miserable in the end," Caius remarked. "Let them go home, Aro. Let us finally be rid of the Cullen family and move on to more pressing matters."

"Yes, yes," Aro sighed. "I suppose we should do something about that rogue little band of vampires terrorizing the Scottish countryside. They have shown themselves one too many times for my liking."

"And mine as well," Caius agreed.

"Carlisle, we welcome your family to stay for a few days and enjoy everything Volterra has to offer you," Aro announced. "But I have a feeling you will all be departing sooner rather than later."

"Probably so, Aro," Carlisle replied, nodding toward the old bag of bones. "I do hope you will stay in touch, old friend."

"Of course, of course," Aro said, walking toward the huge doors with us. "I'm sure we'll see each other again in a few years or decades. It all depends on how boring things get around here."

Carlisle smiled and nodded at Aro. "Until then, old friend."

"Carlisle, just one more thing," Aro said, much too sweetly.

Carlisle turned toward Aro and smiled. "Yes?"

"You're a family and complete now, correct?" Aro questioned.

"Yes, we are," Carlisle replied.

"Keep it that way," Aro said, making it sound like both a command and a warning. "Do not add to this family of yours, ever."

"There will be no need," Carlisle assured him. "We are all quite happily married."

"No, you misunderstand me, Carlisle," Aro replied with a sickeningly sweet grin. "I mean that none of you are ever allowed to make a vampire, not even to save a life as you did with Edward, Esme, and Rosalie. You are forbidden from turning anyone for eternity."

Carlisle's lips pressed into a thin white line, but he nodded his head. "I understand, Aro. We will honor your request."

"Thank you, old friend. Have a lovely trip home, or wherever you may be headed to," Aro said. "Alec, show them out."

And just like that, we were leaving the Volturi headquarters as we had come. Carlisle had managed to get us all out of there safely, and Jasper's powers and my own were still a secret. I breathed deeply once we walked out of those doors, relishing in the feeling of freedom.

"Edward?" Carlisle whispered as we walked toward the rental vehicle.

"Tonight, I think. Probably not long after the sun goes down," Edward replied. I had no idea what they were talking about since I hadn't been able to listen through Edward, but I damn sure didn't like the sound of that.

"Just as I feared," Carlisle said in a weary tone.

* * *


	2. Plotting

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:Plotting**

**Chapter Song:I Disappear by Metallica**

**PREVIOUSLY:**

"Edward?" Carlisle whispered as we walked toward the rental vehicle.

"Tonight, I think. Probably not long after the sun goes down," Edward replied. I had no idea what they were talking about since I hadn't been able to listen through Edward, but I damn sure didn't like the sound of that.

"Just as I feared," Carlisle said in a weary tone.

**NOW: -- Bella's POV  
**

"Jasper?" Carlisle called.

"The house should be ready. When I spoke to the foreman the other day, he swore they were done," Jasper answered.

No one said anything else until we were outside of the walls of Volterra. Then Esme demanded some answers. "Carlisle, Edward, Jasper…one of you had better start talking right _now_."

"Aro is close to giving up on us, but he has one last ploy to prove to himself that Bella truly has no powers," Carlisle stated. "He is sending a small contingent of the guard to capture Edward and take him to an old villa nearby, just to see if Bella can set him free."

"What?" Esme, Rose, Alice, and I yelled at the same time.

"One of the newer members of the guard wasn't paying attention to blocking me," Edward chuckled. "The idiot gave me practically the whole plan."

"But what if it's a setup, Edward? What if he was only pretending to let himself slip?" I argued. "Who would dare risk Aro's wrath like that? I just don't think it's real."

"They have _something_ planned," Alice stated. "I still can't see anything about us in Italy. But the future has also changed. We no longer take separate vacations. We go to all of the destinations, but we do it as a family."

"See, Edward," I cried. "There has to be something more going on!"

"We will find a way to discover their true plan," Carlisle assured me. "In the meantime, no one will get in or out of the house we have rented without us knowing about it. Jasper and I have had certain modifications made to ensure that."

"Carlisle Cullen, what is going on?" a very frustrated Esme asked.

"I'm sorry for leaving you in the dark, my sweet, but we couldn't involve too many of you, just in case Aro decided to touch us all," Carlisle answered. "Jasper and I started planning how to handle various situations, kidnapping being one of our biggest concerns."

"But Marcus told Aro we wouldn't survive long without each other," I sobbed. "He _told_ him! Why doesn't he believe Marcus?"

Edward pulled me into his arms and tucked my head under his chin. "He does believe him, Love. But he doesn't care. He only cares about proving and disproving his theories. He's a bored little man looking to entertain himself."

"I want to go home, Edward," I sobbed, turning my face into his shirt. "I want to go home to Stony Creek and far away from here. I don't even want to see anymore of Europe _ever_!"

"It's all going to be fine, Bella. I promise," he whispered as he ran his long fingers through my hair. "You can't let fear stop you from experiencing life."

"And you somehow think offering yourself up to Aro is an experience we should go through?" I yelled. Jasper hit me with a wave of calm so big that I slumped against Edward.

Edward chuckled and kissed the top of my head. "I think that was a bit much, Jasper, but thank you anyway."

"She was very close to becoming hysterical," Jasper replied. "You know how much I hate that particular emotion."

"Bella, please relax, Dear," Esme pleaded. "We won't let them take Edward."

"We're eight vampires against the most feared group of vampires to walk the Earth," I argued.

"Picky, stop it," Emmett ordered, actually sounding like an authority figure. "I'm not about to let anybody just come in and take away a member of our family. Between my strength, Jasper's brains, the pixie's sight, and Edward's extra ears, we'll know who, when, and how they're coming."

Rose took my face into her hands and smiled at me. "Bella, you're trained for this, remember? Besides, even if they plan for every known factor, they still don't know a thing about Jasper's ability to turn them into frightened little bloodsuckers."

"Bella, the modifications to the house are setup so that Edward and you are surrounded by us at all times. No one is going to get to either of you," Jasper assured me.

"And if the idea is to take a few of you to force us to separate?" I questioned.

Edward tilted my face up and toward him. "Then you know that I will come back to you. You know that I will never stop until I am once again holding you in my arms. Do you doubt that at all?"

"No," I said with more conviction than I felt.

"Isabella, other than that one horrible mistake, have I ever lied to you?" he asked.

"No, Edward."

"Then believe me now. No matter what happens, I will find a way back to you. Promise me that you will wait for me."

"Of course I will. You know there's no one else for me."

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh. I see," I admitted reluctantly.

"It might not be as quick as you or I like, but I will find a way back to you."

"This is all pointless anyway," Alice interrupted. "We're all together on our family vacation, so there's no need for all the drama of goodbye."

"Alice is right," Esme said in a forced cheery tone. "We're all worrying for nothing. Carlisle and Jasper have planned for such an event and we all just need to follow their plan."

"So, Jasper, what did you have done to this house?" Rose asked.

"Basically, we had it torn down and rebuilt to our specifications," he replied. "Remember those motion detectors I had you work on a few months back?"

"Yeah. You had me sup-up the sensors so that they could detect Edward passing in front of them," she said.

"Well, we had those sensors installed at every single entrance to the house. They're hooked up to a video monitoring system, as well as flood lights and an alarm that will sound at a frequency too low for humans to hear. We don't want any extra uninvited guests," he explained.

"You said you had it rebuilt. What does that mean?" Emmett asked.

"On the outside, it looks like any normal, slightly run-down, Italian countryside home. But instead of having insulation in the walls, there's three feet of a mixture made from steel and a titanium alloy. The same goes for the roof and floor. Anyone wanting to burst through and avoid the sensors at the entrances will be making so much noise, that we'll hear them long before they get in. Also, most of the doors and windows aren't real. Open certain doors and windows and you'll find yourself face to face with wall," Jasper informed us. "Of course, that's just on the outside. On the inside, there will be a few more surprises, but Emmett, Edward, Carlisle, and I will be setting those up."

"And using modern technology, we have a few weapons on our side that the Volturi certainly won't be expecting," Carlisle chuckled. It was the first time I'd ever heard him make anything that sounded like a dangerous sound. Esme glanced worriedly at him, but he just gave her a big smile.

"Still, I'd feel tons better if I could just see _something_," Alice whined.

"Stop trying to force it," Jasper said, rubbing her small arms with his much larger hands. "Whether you see the actual fight or not, you know we survive, so that's what's important."

Carlisle turned down an old dirt road and followed until it ended a half mile in, right in front of a small house. Just as Jasper had said, it looked normal for this area and somewhat run-down.

"How can you be sure they did everything like you guys told them to?" I asked, looking over at a faded orange-brown shutter.

"We used trustworthy contacts and paid well for a satisfactory job," Carlisle replied.

"And the man in charge of making sure it was done correctly is an old acquaintance of mine," Jasper chuckled. "He knows how disappointed I'll be in him if things aren't right and he would never risk upsetting Mr. Whitlock."

I looked up at Edward, feeling more confused than I ever had in my life, both human and vampire. Edward laughed at whatever expression was on my face and pulled me into a hug.

"Come on, Bella! Let's go explore," Alice chirped, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Edward. I reluctantly went with her, having heard in Edward's thoughts that he needed to be with Carlisle and Jasper for a while.

Alice pulled me through the front door and we found Esme and Rosalie in the main room. "It smells funny," I told them, hoping someone would know what I was talking about.

"It's the plaster mix they used to hide the titanium," Rose said. "It's not an alloy that readily accepts anything being applied to it."

"Will the others smell it?" I questioned, touching the wall gently. I couldn't believe that it actually looked and felt like any other wall.

"They might, but I doubt they'll know what it is. They hardly have use for modern technology here. Most of them can't even drive," Rose replied.

"Vampires that don't drive over a hundred and twenty in an overly expensive car? Say it ain't so, Rose," I teased, grinning at her.

"Bella's found her sense of humor again," Rose snorted.

"Ah, it never left. In my head, I called Aro an old bag of bones. And an asshole. Oops! Sorry about the language, Mom," I chuckled.

"No. No apology needed," Esme said. She lifted her head high and spoke loud and clear. "Aro _is_ an asshole."

"She cursed!" Alice and I yelled.

"What? You didn't see that one coming?" Rose laughed, putting an arm around Esme's shoulders.

"Nope," Alice chuckled, popping the "p".

"Hey, that's my thing," a deep voice rumbled from behind us.

I felt myself slowly turning, looking for the owner of that voice, wondering how it could be possible at all. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe I was still down from my fainting. Maybe I had found the power to dream. Or maybe all of this had been some vivid dream brought on by a moment of klutziness that had left me in some sort of coma or something. Or maybe the world was full of oddities, vampires being the least of them.

* * *


	3. Old Friends New Alliance

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:Old Friends and New Alliances**

**Chapter Song:Photograph by Nickelback**

**PREVIOUSLY:**

"Nope," Alice chuckled, popping the "p".

"Hey, that's my thing," a deep voice rumbled from behind us.

I felt myself slowly turning, looking for the owner of that voice, wondering how it could be possible at all. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe I was still down from my fainting. Maybe I had found the power to dream. Or maybe all of this had been some vivid dream brought on by a moment of klutziness that had left me in some sort of coma or something. Or maybe the world was full of oddities, vampires being the least of them.

**NOW: - Bella's POV  
**

"Ja…Jacob?" I finally managed.

"Oh, come on, Bells! It hasn't been _that_ long," Jake replied, giving me a toothy grin. "Shame on you for forgetting all about your best friend."

"Shut up!" I yelled, hugging him tightly.

"Relax the grip, Vampire Girl," he laughed. "You can actually do some damage now."

"Be quiet, Wolf Boy. Let me have my moment."

"Can I get some nose plugs first? Damn you stink!"

"Jake, she doesn't smell that bad," another familiar voice said.

I let go of Jake and pulled Seth into my arms. "I can't believe you guys are here. How are you? How's the pack? What about Charlie? And Forks? And _everyone_?"

"Alice, what did you do to her?" Jacob asked in mock horror. "She's acting just like you."

Alice playfully punched Jake in the shoulder and smiled at him. "It's an improvement and you know it."

"Someone answer at least one of my questions," I demanded, stomping my foot before I even realized I was going to do it.

"Same old Bells," Jacob chuckled, shaking his head at me. His hair was shorter than the last time I'd seen it and somehow, his skin looked even darker. He was only slighter taller, and he had a few more muscles, but other than, he was the same old Jacob.

"Can we get some food first?" Seth questioned. "I'm starving after all of that running and swimming."

"You guys ran and swam all the way here?" I asked, completely shocked.

"No. We did laps at the Holiday Inn Express before coming over to your little house warming party," Jake said, rolling his eyes at me.

"Well excuse the hell out of me for not being up to date on the latest in werewolf travel options," I snapped.

"We took a boat, Bells," Jacob said, rolling his eyes. "You sure you didn't get brain damage when Edward turned you? You seem to believe in fantasy way too easily."

"Not funny!" I hissed, punching him in the shoulder.

"Jacob, why is it that whenever you're near, my wife gets angry?" Edward chuckled, having snuck up behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and settled his chin on my shoulder.

"Obviously she's sexually frustrated," Jacob shot back.

Emmett popped up next to Jacob and clamped one of his big paws on Jake's shoulder. "Jacob, I can guarantee you, no one in our household has a more active or satisfied sexual relationship than the two ex-virgins here. They finally beat out Rosie and me and that's quite a feat."

"Emmett, that's way more than I _ever_ needed to know," Jacob replied, pushing Emmett's arm away. "I was just trying to annoy Edward, not find out Bella really has a sex life."

"Before you boys decide to drop trousers and measure up, can someone tell us why the wolves are here?" Rose fussed.

"We told you," Jacob said, a big grin on his face once again. "We came for the house warming party."

"Wait! You guys know about the Volturi!" I yelled. Once again, I had been left out in the dark about things that directly concerned me. And I was pissed.

"Well, Jasper needed someone to test out his weapon and it had to be someone he trusted, so naturally I was his wolf," Jacob answered proudly.

"I helped," Seth added, looking way too pleased with himself.

"What weapon and what testing?" I asked.

All of the men in the room dropped their eyes and Emmett started whistling nervously.

"Rose, a little help," I pleaded.

"Emmett McCarty Cullen, you had better start talking or you're going to be one lonely little vampire," Rose threatened.

"I ordered them not to tell," Jasper announced, stepping into the room with Carlisle.

"And are they still under that order," I pressed. "How far in the dark are you going to leave Rose, Esme, and me? What about your wife?"

"Bella, if Jasper feels we shouldn't know, I trust him," Alice said, putting her small hand on my arm. "He always has a reason."

"Always so impatient, Bella," Jasper said with a small smirk. "Let's get the wolves fed and then we'll make sure we all know what's been going on."

"Talk while we eat. We won't get grossed out or nothing," Seth told him. "Just point us toward the kitchen."

"There's no kitchen," Jasper chuckled. "You'll have to make do with dried goods and warm water. Carlisle and I got beef jerky, chips, things that wouldn't spoil. Everything is in that room right behind Rose."

"Jasper, how much of this place is actually a house?" I asked, looking at my brother with an entirely new set of eyes. He was even more clever than I'd imagined.

"Very little of it," Jasper said. "In order to support the metal in the roof, the house is basically a bunch of small squares that go nowhere. The only real parts are this room and the room behind Rose."

"So this is the core square then?" Seth asked, looking impressed.

"Yes," Jasper answered.

"Wow. This is like a construction marvel or something. Too bad you guys have to keep it a secret," Seth said. "This would be one cool house to study."

"You're studying houses?" I questioned.

"Well, yeah," Seth shrugged. "Someone's gotta be responsible for keeping up the houses on the res."

"And he's damn good at it, too," Jacob said, beaming with pride as he hooked his arm around Seth's shoulders. "The renovations he's done to my dad's house are amazing. I can actually walk around my room _with_ furniture inside of it."

Edward chuckled lowly, pressing his face into my hair. I opened up to him, hearing the reason for his laughter in his own thoughts and Seth's.

Seth's thoughts were slightly frantic. '_Leah will kill me if she finds out. But she needed to get her own space so she could stop telling me what to do all the time._'

Edward's thoughts were calm and humorous as he saw flashes of the construction of Leah's area. '_Bella, love, I know you're listening. It appears little Seth made a separate wing to the house with a separate door just to keep Leah away from the main part of the house and Seth's own bedroom._'

I did my best to behave and not laugh out loud. I didn't want to have to give up Seth's secret, though I was sure Jacob probably knew exactly what had started Seth on the path of a homebuilder.

And then I picked up on Jake's thoughts—just a whisper really since Edward was trying to block them from me, probably in an attempt to protect me. "_And Amber's happy the nursery will be ready in time for the baby._"

"Oh, my God!" I shrieked, tossing myself at Jake and hugging him tightly once again. "You're going to be a daddy!"

"How the hell?" Jake yelled.

"Oh," I chuckled, pulling away from him. I bit at my lip, wondering how I was going to explain that one."

"I told her," Edward said, stepping up beside me again.

"You always have had a big mouth, Bloodsucker," Jake grunted.

My smile disappeared as I thought of the implications of Jake being here with a pregnant Amber back home. "You idiot!" I shouted while punching him in the side of his arm.

Jake howled seconds after a snapping sound filled the small room. "Damn it, Bells! I told you to watch yourself!"

"Me! What about you? What the hell are you doing here with a pregnant wife back home?" I yelled.

"What else?" he shrugged as Carlisle checked his arm. "Saving vampire butt once again, just like with the newborn army."

"Your mutt memory must be faulty," Emmett chuckled.

"Jacob, it wasn't a full break and it's already healing," Carlisle announced.

"Thanks, Carlisle," Jake said sincerely. "And, Bells, nice punch. 'Bout time you learn to throw one properly."

I launched myself at him once again, but Edward managed to grab me by the waist. He held me against his body, keeping me from hitting the smug idiot in front of me. "Stupid Dog!" I hissed at him.

Jacob just smirked at me, waving me forward with one of his thick fingers.

"Stop antagonizing her, Jacob. I _will_ let her go," Edward threatened.

"Didn't you guys mention food?" Seth asked, trying to break up the tension.

We all moved into the second room and sat down in a loose circle on the floor. Jasper and Carlisle put all of the food they'd purchased into the middle, and Jake and Seth dug right in. While they ate, they explained a little about the "experiment" they'd conducted for Jasper.

"So…" Jacob said before burping loudly. He bit into another piece of beef jerky and started talking again while trying to chew. Watching him eat was disgusting and I wondered what Edward had found so fascinating about watching me. Then again, I'd never talked with my mouth full. "I'm in charge of the weapon and Seth is handling the video stuff. But once the major parts were taken care of, we switched off so Seth wouldn't sulk about not getting to join in the fun."

"The loss of a life, no matter how horrible the person, is nothing to call fun, Jacob," Carlisle chastised.

"We'll just agree to disagree on that one, Doc," Jake replied. "Anyway. We finished it all off with the purple bonfire and then overnighted the tape to Jasper, just like he'd told us to."

"You…you seriously made a tape of it?" I asked, feeling a little sick to my stomach.

"Jasper needed visual proof that it worked and how it worked, so yeah," Jacob said, acting as if this was just normal, every day stuff.

"And that tape helped me to put the finishing touches on the rest of the weaponry," Jasper told us. "I have enough weapons for the ten of us."

"So tell us about these weapons, Jasper. How can they have an effect against vampires? I thought man-made things couldn't touch us?" I asked.

Jasper smiled proudly. "And I'm counting on the Volturi thinking the exact same thing."


	4. Single Thought

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title: From a single thought**

**Chapter Song: Everlong by Foo Fighters**

**PREVIOUSLY:**

"So tell us about these weapons, Jasper. How can they have an effect against vampires? I thought man-made things couldn't touch us?" I asked.

Jasper smiled proudly. "And I'm counting on the Volturi thinking the exact same thing."

**NOW: - Bella's POV  
**

"Actually, we have Emmett to thank for all of this," Jasper added.

"Me?" Emmett asked, sounding as shocked as I felt.

"Yeah, I was surprised too," Jasper chuckled. "I never would have guessed one of your hair-brained questions would actually lead to the development of a useful weapon."

"Stop talking cryptic and tell us already!" I begged.

"Remember our trip to the home improvement store?" Jasper asked, a big smile on his face. (**Home Improvement Cullen Style** – the first Cookie League story)

I looked up at Edward, not being able to recall us having visited a store like that together. It must have been one of the human memories I'd lost.

Alice squealed loudly, and I quickly turned my head to look at her. "There was a hot pink toilet there! Bella and Esme wanted to save the environment, though," she said, pouting just a little.

Edward was snorting next to me and I turned to find him shaking his head and pointing at Emmett. "Mad Scientist Day!" he laughed.

"The M-80," Emmett said proudly.

"The nasty toilet water on my favorite towel," Rose said, pushing on Emmett's shoulder.

"How about the poor security guard you _lovely_ children convinced that he was on a drug trip?" Carlisle added.

"Anyway!" Jasper said loudly, pulling our attention back to him. "We were standing around in the power tool section and Emmett asked if Edward and I thought a diamond-studded drill could pierce a vampire's skin. Edward and I had said 'no' of course. But Jacob and Seth's experiment proved otherwise."

"How did you know to try this?" I asked.

"I actually learned something new in school," Jasper chuckled. "The introduction to commercial construction class I took at Dartmouth this year talked about how companies were using diamond-studded wires and saws to slice granite into pieces as thin as a quarter of an inch thick. I took that idea and used Rosalie's knowledge of mechanics to create diamond saws and wires for us to use against the Volturi."

"Will they really work?" Emmett asked, looking skeptical.

Jasper disappeared from the room and returned seconds later with a laptop. "I'm destroying this once you all see it, so make sure you pay close attention. Now is not the time to be squeamish or merciful because I guarantee you that not a single guard of the Volturi will think twice before striking us down."

"Sorry in advance for the beginning," Seth said. "It's a little shaky, but then I figured out how to turn on the stabilizer feature."

"And before you ask, this vampire deserved it. We caught him outside of Newton's Outfitters. He'd snuck up on Mike Newton and was getting ready to make a snack out of him," Jacob told us.

"Was Mike hurt?" I asked.

"Nah! He pissed his pants, though," Jacob chuckled. Edward smirked and bopped his fist against Jacob's. At least they had their dislike of Mike Newton in common.

"It's ready," Jasper announced.

We crowded around Jasper and the laptop, watching as Seth's grinning face filled up the screen. The sound came out of the speakers, loud and clear. "This is Seth Clearwater and Jacob Black. We are testing out the saw and wire to see how effective it is against the bloodsuckers. No disrespect intended to the good vamps."

"Seth, shut the hell up and point the camera this way," Jacob ordered. The camera panned out and focused on Jacob standing next to a haggard looking vampire tied to a large rock with chains. Jacob took a section of chain into his hand and rattled it. "Jasper, as you can see, the titanium steel alloy is enough to hold him. I can't tell you if it will do that for a non-injured bloodsucker, but it's working in this case. I'm going to use the wire first."

The camera zoomed in as Jacob grab hold of the vampire's hand. He used a part of the chain to keep the hand held away from the rest of the vampire's body. We watched in silence as the video showed Jacob wrapping a dark gray object around the creature's wrist while it hissed at him and glared through ruby red eyes. Jacob had each end of the wire in his big hands and without warning, he yanked on the ends. The vampire screamed as his fingers wiggled at him from the ground near his feet.

"Holy shit!" the Jacob in the video yelled.

"It works!" an overly excited Seth squeaked.

None of us spoke. We just stared at the laptop screen and the moving fingers of the newly disconnected hand. The fact that the fingers were still moving was more unsettling than anything else I'd seen so far. I knew in theory that a vampire wasn't truly dead until their body parts were destroyed by fire—it was something else entirely to see the reality of it.

"My hand!" the unknown vampire shrieked. "You fucking cut off my hand!"

"Now for the saw," Jacob said, his demeanor back to one of business.

Edward's hands twitched and I knew he was fighting the impulse to cover my eyes. I took his hands into mine and opened myself to him. "_Edward, please don't. I need to know what will happen here tonight. You know as well as I do that one, or both of us, will use those wires and saws before this day ends._"

"_I will do my best to keep you from having to take a life, Isabella._"

"_I know you will. And I love you for that._"

"Look, can't we talk about this?" the vampire on the screen pleaded, grabbing my attention. "I can hunt in the big city. I'll stay away from here and tell everyone I come across to stay away too. I'll hunt in another _state_ if you want."

"The word of a bloodsucker is nothing to us," Jacob replied, his voice so cold—so much like Sam's.

"Jake, look out!" Seth yelled, just as one of the rows of chains slipped free. The vampire's hand shot out and grabbed Jacob around the neck…

But it was already too late. Jake had flipped on the saw and relieved the vampire of his head. We watched it hit the ground with a sickening thud. The vampire's lips moved without making a sound and the body behind him twitched in a jerky sort of motion.

The camera jostled as the picture moved toward the ground and then we saw Seth running to Jake. "Jake? Jake, are you okay, man? Amber and Leah will kill us both if you aren't!"

"Shut up for a second," Jacob wheezed, holding his throat with one of his hands. "Light the fire."

Seth ran over to a part of the forest we couldn't see, but soon returned with a small trail of white smoke following after him. He picked up the head and hand and tossed them outside of the camera's focus. It didn't take long at all for the smoke to turn purple.

While Jacob rested and healed, Seth threw the chains off the vampire's corpse. Once he was done with that, he picked up the saw and cut the body into smaller pieces. He took more pleasure in it than I cared to see, but he was a werewolf and that vampire was not one of us. Seth respected us and cared for us. He would never show that sort of disregard toward us and I needed to remember that. Life was as gray between vampires and werewolves as it was between all humans.

"Turn it off," Esme demanded in a small voice.

Jasper stopped the video, popped the disc out of the laptop, and crushed it in his hands. He brushed the pieces onto the floor as he surveyed all of our faces. "Anyone here not understand why that was necessary?" He waited to see if anyone would respond—he smiled when we didn't. "Good. Because it's us or them. And frankly, I like us better."

"What's the plan?" Edward asked. "I know you have one, but I can't pick it out."

"Probably because I'm thinking of all of the scenarios at once," Jasper said, getting to his feet. He dashed out of the room again, this time returning with some rolled up paper in his arms. He set them onto the floor and knelt before them, smoothing out the edges. He tapped on the first one. "This is the house with its improvements. Memorize what you can because I'm burning these after. We need to be prepared for anything, like these drawings getting into the wrong hands, or the Volturi finally having found a mindreader of their own. You can clearly see that where we are now is the very middle of the house with only one direct way in, the front door. Edward and Bella will be in this room. No excuses, no protests, no nothing!" Jasper ordered, looking up at me.

"I understand," I replied, meaning it completely. There was too much at stake for me to even think about being self-sacrificing or stubborn.

"Edward?" Jasper questioned.

"I'm not leaving her," Edward said, pulling me into his arms and holding me tightly.

"Good. Edward, you are our ears. If you hear the numbers growing, or someone getting past our defenses, let us know. If it's safe for us to take them out, we will. If not, it's up to you and Bella to handle it. All four walls of this room are reinforced, but not the door. I needed to make sure you had a way out if they found a way through the walls, roof, or ground. We'll all have earpieces to stay in communication with each other. I don't want talk or chatter. A simple 'done' as you each finish a task will be more than enough."

"Guess that means I won't be entertaining you all with the King tonight," Emmett chuckled.

"Now is really not the time for your jokes," Jasper said sternly, glancing up at Emmett.

"No, now is the perfect time. Because tonight will be overly serious," Emmett replied.

"He's right," Rose and I said together, making us laugh a little as we each grabbed one of Emmett's big arms.

"Just make sure you're all paying attention," Jasper cautioned. "I will _not_ loose any of you tonight," he added, giving Alice a pointed look. He turned his attention toward the second paper he'd unrolled. "These are the grounds. I thought about putting sensors, but with all the wildlife in the area, we'd get too much interference. Besides, as soon as they saw them, they would break them. But I still needed a way to still the first wave, because I have no doubt Aro will 'test the waters' so to speak before sending the main part of the guard. They're going to attempt to surround the house, coming in four groups from the north, south, east, and west."

"How do you know that?" Seth asked, looking at Jasper with something like awe.

"Well, it's what I would do," Jasper shrugged. And then he smiled wide. "Plus, it's what Edward picked up from the vampire who wasn't blocking."

"So what do we do with this first attack wave?" Jake asked, leaning over the plans with Jasper.

"We use the wires," Jasper replied, looking around at all of us. "Rose, Esme, Carlisle, and Alice."

"Esme?" Jacob questioned, looking shocked.

"Yes. She's light on her feet and in a pinch, she can pull the 'innocent vampire' card," Jasper explained.

"Mothers are often the fiercest fighters," Esme said sweetly, putting her hand on Jacob's shoulder. "Just wait until you see Amber with your own baby."

"Which you damn well better make sure you see," I fussed, staring hard at Jacob.

He smiled in that goofy way of his and I couldn't help but smile back. "Bells, I'm going home in one piece, safe and sound," he promised. "And Seth, too."

"You still worry way too much," Seth chuckled, smiling at me. "At least you can't screw us up by grabbing a rock this time."

I had a totally human reaction to his words—I poked my tongue at him.

"Jasper, it's getting late in the day," Carlisle cautioned. "You still have to assign positions, hand out earpieces, and show everyone how to work the wires and saws."

"Everyone, take a moment to learn and memorize these plans so that I can get rid of them. Once you're all done, we'll head out into the forest for a little training," Jasper ordered.

No one questioned him, no one made a joke, and no one did anything less than what he'd asked us for. All too soon, we were deep into the forest, standing near out an outcropping of rocks.

"Jasper, what are these made of?" I asked, running my hand over the pock-marked surface.

"Travertine. It's used for flooring and building façades. It's not as strong as granite or marble, but it's not a weak rock either," he explained. He took one of the wires he'd brought with him and stretched it out, holding it for all of us to see it. "The ends are clear so that we don't accidentally cut our own hands when we use the wires. Make sure you grab it correctly. There's no reason to be hasty and lose fingers. They aren't expecting us to be ready and they definitely aren't expecting us to fight back." Jasper paused, making sure we were all still paying attention to him. "There's enough clearance to wrap the wire around your hands one time. This will make it easier to hang onto it and have the right amount of leverage." Jasper walked up to a piece of rock that was sticking out from the rest. "I want you to sneak up behind each target, lift the wire over its head, and then in one movement, place it at the neck and _pull_!" The rock snapped off without a sound and rolled along the ground until it hit Emmett's boot.

"Holy shit!" Emmett said in an awed tone. "My brother is fuckin' Genghis Khan, Samuel Colt, and General Sherman all in one."

"The big one knows some history," Jacob snorted.

"Fuck you," Emmett snorted, pushing on Jacob's arm.

"Language, Emmett! We might have to fight for our lives, but there's no reason to be uncivilized about it," Esme chided.

We all looked at each other and then at Esme's serious expression before erupting into loud laughter. She tried to fight it, but eventually gave up and joined in with us. It wasn't until we noticed the saw in Jasper's hands that we immediately fell into silence.

"This will be our deadliest and loudest weapon. They're modified to run off air pressure, so along with the actual spinning of the blade, you'll have the hiss of the pressurization. Each of you will have to carry a backpack with extra blades and air tanks. They're set up for easy change out, but you still need a few seconds, so we will all be working in pairs. You _are_ responsible for your partner's life so act like it."

"Who are we going to be with?" Jacob asked.

"Seth is with you, Alice with me, Rose with Emmett, and Esme with Carlisle," Jasper replied.

"Sure! Make me the woman in that grouping," Seth muttered. I couldn't help but chuckle at him, and I knew I wasn't the only one.

"Give us a kiss," Jacob teased, puckering his lips up at Seth.

"Bite me," Seth growled, pushing Jacob away.

"Don't think I won't," Jacob said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I realize you two have already used the saw, but would you mind shutting up so I can show everyone else? Their lives do depend on it, just in case you've forgotten," Jasper said sternly.

Jacob and Seth looked sufficiently chastised as they stared down at their feet and it took everything in me not to laugh. In that moment, they looked so much more like teenage boys than adult werewolves. And honestly, I was glad for there being humor mixed with the seriousness. Emmett had been right earlier—tonight would be overly serious for us all.

* * *

For any of you who have never read it, Home Improvement Cullen Style is the first Cookie League story. It can be found in my favorites, or by going to my profile page and clicking on Hellopants at the very top.


	5. No Goodbyes

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:No Goodbyes**

**Chapter Song:Right Here Waiting by Staind**

**PREVIOUSLY:**

Jacob and Seth looked sufficiently chastised as they stared down at their feet and it took everything in me not to laugh. In that moment, they looked so much more like teenage boys than adult werewolves. And honestly, I was glad for there being humor mixed with the seriousness. Emmett had been right earlier—tonight would be overly serious for us all.

**NOW: - Bella's POV**

Twilight was so very close and for the first time in many years, I was _not_ happy to see it. That first set of vampires would appear as soon as the black of night settled across these woods and this house. It marred the beauty of the landscape for me, giving me a chill in my unbreakable bones.

Edward suddenly appeared behind me, wrapping me up in his strong arms. "It does you no good to fret, Love."

"I'm not fretting. I'm shoring myself up for the night ahead."

"Come with me," he whispered, leading me away from the others. "There is something I want you to see."

"Do we really have time for sight-seeing?" I asked, looking up at the darkening sky.

"It's not even Twilight yet. And we are more than fast enough for this."

I trusted him completely, so I just ran with him, following him wherever he wanted us to go. I would follow him anywhere he went without a second of hesitation.

Winding our way through the trees, we soon came upon some ruins. Edward slowed our speed down to a stroll as we approached what remained of the building. "This was a church centuries ago," he explained. "I stumbled upon it on my way to the city. I stayed here for a bit before going before Aro and the others. I hadn't even meant to stop, but suddenly, I was inside of this building. I sat right there," he said, pointing to a set of small stone steps.

I didn't need him to say anymore—I knew what day he was referring to. "Why here?"

"I don't know really. I guess I was hoping for a miracle, even though I didn't expect to find one."

"But it never came," I whispered, trying to imagine how torn he must have been, thinking I was dead.

"Oh, yes it did," he assured me, taking my face into his hands. "She just came a bit later than I expected." His lips found mine, drowning me in the sweet pleasure of his touch and overwhelming love. "_You saved me that morning and I will keep you safe throughout this night_," he pledged with his tender thoughts.

Even as he pledged to keep me safe, his kiss turned into one of those goodbye moments between us. I refused to let that be what I remembered if my life should end tonight. "_Don't you dare say goodbye to me, Edward Cullen. Just tell me how much you love me instead._"

Later on, as we raced back toward the house under the soft hues of Twilight, I was completely satisfied with Edward having told me and shown me how much he loved me. And I had shown him right back, making absolutely sure he knew how much I loved and appreciated every second I'd ever spent with him.

Jasper was standing outside the front door, looking so much like a sentinel as he surveyed the grounds. I wondered why Alice wasn't with him.

"She's already among the trees with Rose, Esme, and Carlisle," Edward whispered. "Jasper was only waiting for us to return before taking up his own post."

"I thought he was staying back with us to wait for the real party," I whispered back.

"He's going to attempt to be everywhere he can until he's at Alice's side again."

I nodded in understanding as we entered the house. Emmett was very somber, sitting in the corner and checking out one of the saws. Jacob and Seth were talking in low whispers in the interior room. Edward led me over to the opposite side of the room and showed me how to wear and work the earpieces Jasper had purchased for us all.

"Jazz put Edward and me in charge of double-checking the backpacks and saws," Emmett said, sounding far too calm and serious to be my big brother. I knew I wouldn't see the big bear I loved until dawn arrived again—I refused to acknowledge any other outcome.

"Then let's get to it," Edward said, grabbing the first of the ten backpacks. "Bella, why don't you spend some time with Jacob? It's been a very long while since you had the chance to do that."

As much as I hated to leave Edward's side, I did owe Jacob at least one conversation for coming all the way out here like he had. I knew he'd only done it because he still considered me to be his best friend—a definite feat after all we'd put each other through.

I walked into the room, finding Seth and Jacob grinning at each other and shaking hands. "What's with the hand shaking?" I asked, sitting next to them.

"Nothing for you to worry your little vampire head over," Jacob chuckled.

"And here I was thinking you'd missed me and would like to hang out with me," I sighed, pretending to be saddened as I stood up.

Jacob pulled me right back down next to him and wrapped a big arm around my shoulders. "Bells, tell me about life for you."

"You really want to know?" I asked, watching his face closely.

He smiled like the old Jacob and nodded his head. "I really want to know."

"I'm really, really happy, Jake. I love being married to Edward, and I love living with our family. I don't even mind going to Dartmouth so much anymore."

"Bells, you know if this doesn't work—"

"Shut up," I said immediately, cutting him off. "I don't want to hear it."

"You always have been good at ignoring the danger right in front of your face," Jake sighed, hugging me against his side.

"This has to work, Jacob. This is the only way to ever have peace and freedom."

"Death to get peace and freedom," he mused.

"It's the only thing Aro can respect," I shrugged. "He's lived far too long."

"Will he be here tonight?"

"I have no idea. But I think it's more likely that he'll have someone watch for him, and then he'll watch _through_ them."

"A bloodthirsty vamp that doesn't want to get his hands dirty. What an oxymoron that is!"

"Since when do you know such big English words?"

"Since Seth made me go to the community college with him."

I looked up to thank Seth, but found that he'd disappeared from the room. It only took a second to pick up his voice from the other room—he was talking with Edward. "I've always known Seth was a smart boy," I said, getting Jake to laugh. "So tell me about Amber and the baby."

"Well, Amber's really excited about it. She's only three months along, so there's not much to say on the baby front just yet. It'll be a while before we know what we're having. Gonna be a big kid, though, Bells. Amber's already put on some extra pounds."

"You are such a pig!" I cried, pushing on his shoulder. "How is that any way to talk about your wife, and the mother of your child?"

"Oh, Amber doesn't mind. She made a joke herself just last week that the couch was trying to eat her."

"What did you say back?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"I told her she had it backwards—her butt was trying to eat the couch," Jacob laughed. (**Lizbre, that's just for you!**)

"I hope she hit you," I said with a smile.

"She did!" he chuckled. "But she was smarter about it than you were. She grabbed a cast iron skillet and hit me with that."

"Smart girl!" I laughed, clapping my hands together.

"Yeah, she is," Jacob agreed, smiling a little sadly. "I miss her, Bells. I can't wait to get back to her."

"Does she know where you are?"

"No. I didn't want to worry her. I told her Seth and me were going to a construction convention in South Carolina."

"Why South Carolina?" I asked, thinking that a completely random state to name.

"Seth closed his eyes and pointed at the map. It's where his finger landed."

"You are both nuts," I snorted.

"Of course we are!" he laughed. "We're werewolves helping out our vampire friends to fight the evil bloodsuckers. How could that possibly be construed as sane?"

"Jacob?"

"Yeah, Bells?"

"Thank you," I said sincerely, giving him a big hug.

"It's going to be okay, Bells. One way or another," Jacob said softly, returning my hug.

One way or another…A good phrase for this night, and for his future. Because one way or another, Jacob was going home to Amber alive and well, with Seth in tow. There would not be any permanent goodbyes for our group if I could help it at all.


	6. Silent Deaths

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:Silent Deaths**

**Chapter Song:Indestructible by Disturbed**

**Alice's POV**

Waiting! I had _never_ appreciated having to wait. At least being out here allowed my gift to function to some degree—I would be the first to use my husband's weapon tonight. A female vampire with purple hair and fishnets would soon stop existing. Honestly, I was doing the world a favor by saving it from such a horrific fashion tragedy. Or at least that's what I would say in my head. I didn't want to take this girl's life, but I had a family to protect.

"Yuck!" I muttered, wiping a bead of sap from my pants. Esme and her love of trees. She was right about this being a great vantage point, but I wasn't a fan of nature when it got on my clothes. On the plus side, vampires didn't bleed and I wouldn't need to worry about anything getting on my boots. Rose and I had picked these up straight from Milan. And we were all styling tonight, dressed in black pants and black hoodies to help us blend with the dark night sky.

I knew my thoughts were random and pretentious, but really! What else was I supposed to think about at a time like this? I knew Aro wanted Edward and me as playthings in his sick little court. I also knew the sadistic bastard would do anything to get what he wanted. But we were not pets and we would not be bought, bullied, or enslaved.

The purple haired one was close now. I slipped down to the ground and hid behind the tree, waiting for her to pass me by. The second she did, I fell in line behind her, matching my every step with hers. If she dashed left, I did the same. If she jumped over a twig, so did I. If she gave an unnecessary breath…well I let her do that on her own, not wanting to accidentally give myself away. This was definitely one of the times in my life when my small size was a huge advantage for me.

I'd already seen her fate and knew what was to come—I took no joy from that information, just a bit of solace in knowing that my hand was forced in the matter. I would follow her for only a little while longer. She would stop to hide behind some rocks and try to catch a peek at the house. She would lean forward, and then she would fall dead at my feet.

It only took seconds for my vision to come true and there to be a body at my feet. I pressed the button on my earpiece and gave the word my husband had instructed. "Done."

I gathered up the pieces, keeping the head away from the body and darted toward the house. The last thing I needed was to let the head get too close to the body and have her heal in my arms.

Jasper had prepared a shed for the burning, tunneling off the smoke so it couldn't rise into the sky and alert the full guard. My husband was brilliant and he had thought of everything—it was up to us to put his strategies to good use.

"Alice," he greeted, taking my load from me. He let me feel his love for me and his confidence in me for just a few seconds. "Be safe," he whispered.

"I'll be back with you soon enough," I assured him. "But first, I have a message for you to give to Carlisle..."

**Carlisle's POV**

My daughter had been the first to have to deal out death on this bleak night. There was only a half moon in the sky, but it did us no good since the cloud cover kept it hidden. No matter. We didn't need the light, not with our eyesight. We would see every single detail with perfect clarity, whether we wanted to see it that well or not.

My wife and two of my daughters were out there, in the trees just like me. My sons and my youngest daughter were in the middle of our protective circle, waiting for our safe return. How many would Aro send out to spy on us? How long would he wait for their return before realizing they were not coming back? How big of a contingent of the guard would he send to exact his odd sense of vengeance for the lives we took tonight?

So many mistakes had led us to this time and place. But as Bella had once said, if changing any part of history removed a single member of this family, it wasn't worth it. If only Aro could have been reasoned with! Why could he not understand that my family's entire way of life was meant to avoid this sort of senseless violence? I had thought we were friends, but Aro was apparently incapable of true friendship and loyalty.

My target appeared on the horizon, slinking from tree to tree while steadily moving forward toward the house behind me. I was a man of peace, of medicine, of family…But when called upon, I was also a fierce protector of my family and my way of life. Aro wanted this to happen, believing it would help us to embrace our "true" nature. He was so very wrong. Not even this night would make us monsters in my eyes because I knew our hands were truly forced. I just hoped I could convince my family of that fact, especially Edward.

Bella had done so much to heal him, but I feared for his state of mind the most. He didn't want to be a monster, and he especially didn't want to risk Bella seeing him as a monster. But my son would not stand for anyone putting her life at risk and I knew he would fight and kill without remorse in the moment. It would be later, when he looked at his reflection in the mirror, that he would question himself. He had to know I would never have agreed to Jasper's plan if there had been any other solution.

I held tightly to the branch with one hand and swung myself down, landing on the target's back as soundlessly as possible. Before he had the chance to fully register his new position, his head was no longer attached. Jasper's weapon was as silent as it was deadly. It had a surgeon's precision to its cut and the only mess on it was the dirt from the ground. The wire had sliced clean through every tendon of the neck and had embedded into the ground with surprisingly little force from me. It was much more than a human would have been capable of, but still quite small by vampire standards.

"Do you plan to sit on him all day?" Jasper whispered, amusement seeping from him and into me.

I clapped a hand onto my son's arm and allowed him to pull me up. "Jasper, as dire as the circumstances are, you should be proud of your accomplishments."

"If I had not seen so much death, Carlisle, maybe I could have. Right now, I'm just happy to be keeping my family alive."

"How did you know?" I asked, wiping the wire on the eliminated target's shirt. It was easier to thing of a "target" or an "it", than a prematurely ended life.

"Alice," was his only reply. "She says for you to go a mile to the right and you'll find your next target. She says to be sure and come from behind. If he catches sight of you, he'll outrun you and be able to alert the guard."

"Then I will make sure that doesn't happen," I assured Jasper.

"Give the word and go. I'll handle the body," Jasper said, giving orders like the soldier he was.

With a heavy heart, I let the others know my first task of the night was completed. "Done."

**Esme's POV**

Such a cold, thin little thing…And yet so very deadly. I traced the wire lightly, careful not to cut myself on the diamonds. What was the world coming to when a family had to resort to such measures just to be left in peace? Why must war always be a precursor to peace? I hated the very idea of what this night was to become, but I wasn't a foolish woman and I knew there was no other way. If there had been, Carlisle would have had us pursue it.

I pushed those thoughts away as I settled myself into a better position on the tree branch. We were all in the trees, keeping an eye out for the start of this night.

I'd always enjoyed climbing trees. That was actually how I'd first met Carlisle. I'd climbed a tree to sit on a branch, but had misjudged its sturdiness. I fell to the ground and broke my leg, requiring a visit to the doctor…And my first glimpse of Carlisle. To say I'd been smitten with him would have been putting it mildly. I'd almost considered breaking my other leg just to see him again. But it wouldn't have done me any good since he didn't stay in our town for long. I was just lucky to have found him again later in life.

"Done," came through my earpiece in Alice's overly subdued voice.

My normally exuberant child had been forced to end a life. But I wasn't overly concerned about my Alice. Jasper would make sure she never felt regret or remorse for this night. Jasper had chosen us well for this task. Carlisle and I understood there was no other choice, Alice wouldn't hold these deaths against herself, and Rosalie believed any vampire stepping onto this land was getting exactly what they asked for. Edward was the fastest among us, and Bella was the stealthiest, but they both had tender hearts that bowed beneath the weight of acts like this. Emmett would have been too eager to prove himself as the muscles of our family and mistakes would have accidentally been made. And while I appreciated the wolves coming so far to help us, I didn't want them in harms way unless it was absolutely necessary.

Carlisle's deeper voice interrupted my thoughts—there was no mistaking the sadness in it. "Done."

Two lives already lost on this night. A flash caught my eye seconds before a tall dark-haired vampire stopped beneath my tree. His nostrils flared out as he scanned the area. His body was tilted forward and he looked ready to spring at a moment's notice.

I stayed close to the trunk, sliding down like water over a smooth rock. My feet touched the ground without the slightest peep and I was suddenly standing right behind my enemy. In two quick movements, I brought the wire up and over his head, fitting it against his neck and pulling. His head was cleaved from his body without a sound and the remains lay at my feet. I was grateful for our inability to bleed—this was barbaric enough without having blood spilled on the ground.

I pressed my finger to the earpiece and turned a single word filthy. "Done."

"Go now," Jasper whispered, having appeared beside me. "I'll take away the body."

I nodded and ran off into the woods, ready to bring a silent death to all those who wished my family harm. I only wanted to be a mother…these Volturi had turned me into a killer and they _would_ regret it.

**Rose's POV**

Alice, Carlisle, and Esme had all put their wires to the test and were successful. I knew I would be too, but I couldn't help the twinge of nervousness that flitted through me. The darkness of the night sky was no match for the dark part of my soul that had taken control of my mind and body tonight. I let it, knowing it would make these killings easier to live with.

Long ago, I had been weak, alone, and unable to protect myself. But I had left that girl behind so very many years ago. Now, I was Rosalie Cullen and I had the strength to crush a mortal man's head in between these perfectly manicured hands of mine. Not that I wanted to kill anyone. I would much rather be home, cuddling in bed with Emmett.

I pulled a piece of leather from my pocket and used it to tie back my hair. It would make things easier if I didn't have to worry about the wind blowing it everywhere. I picked up the wire from the ground and a few of the diamonds sparkled in the weak light filtering through the thick clouds overhead. The weapon didn't look all that deadly, but I'd seen the video and I'd seen what it could do to solid rock so there was no questioning its effectiveness. Jasper was a military genius and we were lucky to have him in our family. Hell, we were lucky to have him without this. He was always there for us, helping us to feel the good emotions and dampen the ugly ones. Edward and I had certainly given Jasper a work out on numerous occasions over the years. But I liked to think it was better for us all now, especially with the new ways Bella had taught us all to see ourselves.

But how would we all see ourselves in the morning? I knew I wasn't going to lose any sleep over these Volturi idiots. But what about Bella? Or Edward for that matter? Jasper was looking at all of this as tactics and maneuvers—he didn't see faces or families. Emmett only saw red, knowing these creatures wanted to harm us and break up our family. Alice was the type to live in the moment and what was done here would stay here. Carlisle and Esme were a father and mother lion protecting their cubs and would satisfy themselves with that knowledge. And the wolves were here for more glory, wanting to show off for Bella.

"What do we have here?" a leering vampire asked, looking me up and down.

"Such a pretty little thing, all alone in the woods," a second added. He licked his thin lips and sneered at me.

"It's my lucky night! Not one, but two men come to visit with me," I said, sauntering over to the first vampire.

"How about a little kiss, Sexy?" the first vampire asked, his hands clenching in anticipation.

"I was hoping you would ask," I replied, making sure his eyes stayed on my breasts and not my hands. Thank Alice for the tight fitting clothing that had this idiot mesmerized.

I kept very little space between us as I put my hands on his shoulders and titled my head the slightest bit toward his. He never noticed the wire in my hands, stretching out in front of his neck. At the last second, I pressed my lips to his cheek, giving just enough pressure to help his head fall to the ground.

I turned my body sideways and flicked my wrist, letting the wire fly out and slice clean through the second's vampire's neck. He didn't even have time to finish his unnecessary blink before I parted his head from its body. I kicked the two heads away from the bodies with the toe of my boots, smiling with satisfaction at my handiwork. I pressed the button on my earpiece to alert my family of my success. "Done. And done."

"Of course you would be the one to have a two-fer," Jasper chuckled, stepping out of the shadows.

"You could have helped."

"You would have hated it," he said, picking up the body and head of the first vampire.

"Yes, I would have," I agreed, racing toward the house with the second vampire's remains. "Besides, you weren't exactly here in time. You can pretend all you want that you were watching in the shadows, but your step is too heavy. You arrived as number two's head was falling to the ground."

"Rose, does Emmett know you have such refined killing instincts hiding beneath your hair care products?" Jasper joked, grinning at me.

"Why do you think he always straightens up when I glare at him?" I asked, joking right back. Emmett behaved himself because he knew it made me happy. "Are there more?"

Jasper touched his hand to his earpiece. "Edward?"

"Five. No, it's eight now. There are two pairs and the rest are singles," Edward replied.

"Take them all out," Jasper ordered.

"And after?" I asked.

He put his hand to his earpiece and spoke to us all. "Once these eight are done, I want the four of you to run sweeps in a circle. Start at the edge of the property and work your way back. If you run across more vampires than you can handle, don't fight. Retreat to the house and we'll handle them when arrive at the house. Do _not_ take chances."

"Alright, captain! I'm out of here," I said, patting Jasper on the back.

"I was a major, not a captain," he yelled after me.

"Like it matters," I laughed, racing off into the night. There were more Volturi to get rid of and I was just the woman to do it.

* * *


	7. Stress Relief

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:Stress Relief**

**Chapter Song:Night Drive by All American Rejects**

**Emmett's POV**

"Was that Rosalie?" I asked Jasper as I stepped out of the house.

"Yep."

"Hot damn!" I yelled excitedly, looking at the two bodies in front of Jasper. "She took two out?"

"At once," Jasper confirmed.

I grabbed one of the heads and lined myself up with the open shed door. "Cullen is attempting a thirty-two yard field goal."

"Em, you're maybe ten feet away," Jasper interrupted.

"Hush it, emo-boy," I growled. He was always trying to ruin my fun. "Cullen sets up for the kick," I said, angling the head in my hands just the right way. I took a few steps forward and then punted the head straight through the shed door and into the fire. I threw my arms in the air to celebrate my victory. "The field goal is good! Cullens win!"

"Yeah, you better hope that's how this night ends," Jasper muttered, tossing one of the bodies into the fire.

"It will," I said, grabbing the other body. The pants tore and the body fell back to the ground with a thump. "Dude! What were you doing with a worm in your pants?" I asked the headless vamp at my feet.

"Emmett, can you for once in your life shut up and just do the work?" Jasper asked, letting me feel just how annoyed he was with me.

"This is my way of coping, Jasper. I don't get to pick what emotion I want to feel," I told him.

Jasper nodded his head and gripped my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Emmett. I forget sometimes that you really do worry about everyone."

"I figure Picky and Eddie are giving you enough of a workout tonight," I chuckled, slinging the body into the fire by a leg. I tossed the ripped jeans in too.

"Actually, they're both okay right now. Bella's happy to be spending some time with Jacob and Seth, and Edward is just focused," Jasper replied.

"Good. Let them stay that way for as long as they can." I started playing soccer with the final head, moving it between my boots. "Come on, Jazz. Try and block me."

"Soccer now?" he asked, letting himself be a little amused.

"It's the other football," I laughed. I faked left, but Jasper was all over it and blocked me as soon as I went right. "Look at emo-boy having some moves."

"I have plenty of moves, Emmett. I just save them for the privacy of my bedroom."

"Cheap shot, you prick," I snorted, trying once more to get past him.

"I have one, but I'm not one," Jasper corrected. "I leave that for you to handle."

"Hey, do you think Edward would have a fit if he knew we were playing soccer with a head?"

"No, I won't have a fit. I'll just recommend that Carlisle get you both some intensive counseling," Edward said. I looked up and he was leaning in the doorway, an actual smile on his normally severe face.

"Why don't you just join us and work off some tension?" I offered.

"Because if Bella sees that, she _will_ kick all of our butts," Edward replied.

Jasper immediately disappeared from my side and popped up next to Edward.

"Wussies," I chuckled, using my boot to launch the heat into the fire.

"Like you didn't just get rid of that to avoid Bella's wrath," Jasper said, shaking his head at me. "Admit it, Emmett. The little one scares you nearly as much as Rosalie."

"Not fear, Jazz. Respect. After the way she punched me that day when we were camping, damn right I respect Picky," I told him.

Our banter was cut off by Esme's soft voice. "Done with both."

"Damn," I whistled. "Mom got a two-fer. Let it never be said that Esme Cullen can't hang with the big boys."

"Emmett, for the love of our entire family, stop," Edward begged, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I know this is your way of dealing with stuff, but I really can't take it right now."

"Where?" Jasper asked, looking at Edward.

"Toward the right. Less than three miles with how strongly I'm picking up on Esme," Edward replied.

"I'll be right back. Stay here," Jasper ordered before disappearing into the trees.

"What's it like?" I asked, honestly wanting to know.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Edward sighed, leaning his head back as he continued to pinch his nose.

I thought for a second on how to phrase my question so I wouldn't aggravate him. Contrary to popular belief, I didn't always want to rile him up. "What's it like for you to hear them before they don't exist anymore?"

"Odd. Those two that Esme dealt with…The one girl was thinking about how getting a Cullen would be her ticket to rising in the ranks of the Volturi. She was so focused on her daydream of power and glory, she never knew different. One second, she was picturing herself standing next to Felix, and the next there was nothing. She just stopped existing. The guy was thinking about the girl, wondering if she ever noticed him. He was wondering what they were both were doing out here and why our family was so important. He was running a few feet in front of the girl, so he didn't hear anything until her head hit the ground. He saw Esme and thought she was a vengeful angel, come to right the devil's wrongs. He struggled with what he was, but was too afraid to be on his on, so he stayed with the Volturi. He actually knelt on the ground and thanked Esme for coming to end his life."

I gulped, wondering how in the hell Edward could deal with something like that. I was troubled by it and that was hearing it second hand.

"He was at peace with himself when it happened, thinking it was a good death," Edward said, looking off into the trees. "Esme's upset. She wanted to let him go, but she knew she couldn't. If I were Aro, I'd be very afraid of Esme Cullen right now."

I didn't say a word after that, just letting all of that stuff sink into my head. Jasper and Esme appeared and I helped them dispose of the bodies—I didn't play around this time.

Once all the pieces were in the fire, I wrapped my arms around my mother. "I love you, Mom."

She patted my cheek and smiled at me. "I love you, too, Emmett. Be good. I'll be back soon." She gave me one more smile and then disappeared. "We have the coolest mom ever," I said to my brothers. Edward and Jasper just nodded their heads in agreement.

"Done," Rosalie announced, her voice ringing in my ear. I knew my girl was a tough woman, but I still worried about her, out there in the woods without me at her side.

Her voice was followed almost immediately by Alice's. "Done and done."

"I'm off to help her," Jasper announced seconds before streaking into the woods. He never needed a direction with it came to the pixie. He always seemed to know exactly how to find her.

The little earpiece made that slight noise again that meant someone was going to talk. "Done," Carlisle informed us all.

"Down to two," Edward sighed, looking off in the distance.

Rose popped out of the trees to our right and I smiled at her. She returned it easily and then dumped her load into my arms. "Take care of this for me?"

"Baby, there's absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for you," I assured her. I leaned forward and kissed her cheek, behaving myself for once.

Her hand came up and rubbed against my cheek while she gave me a beautiful smile. Everyone thought our sex life was the most intimate thing about us. They had no idea that touches like that from Rosalie were the things that were really intimate for her. But I knew. It was one of the millions of reasons why I loved her so damn much.

"You better get back out there. There's still two," I told her.

"See you soon, Em," she said before turning and running toward the trees.

"You better," I called after her. I walked over to the shed and tossed everything into the fire. I grabbed a few more logs from the ground and tossed them in too. I wanted to make sure this fire stayed hot and hungry—it was the only way to make sure these vampires stayed dead.

I headed back over to Edward and leaned against the side of the house with him. "We have one hell of a family, huh?"

"Yeah," he said, grinning just a little. He suddenly stiffened and growled low in his chest. He grabbed his earpiece and hissed so low that _I_ had trouble hearing him. "Carlisle, Alec is to your left. He saw you make that kill and he's debating whether to attack or run back to Aro."

I looked off toward the woods, wishing my vampire sight would let me see through leaves and trees. I wanted to know what was going on. And then I remembered that Edward could hear it all from Carlisle and Alec. "Edward, what's going on?"

Bella was at Edward's side, holding tightly to his arm. He had his eyes closed and looked like he was concentrating really hard. "They're right at the edge of my hearing," Edward said. "Carlisle ran so that Alec would assume he was scared and now he's getting him to chase him toward the house. Carlisle's getting ready to stop and turn on him. Alec's overconfident, assuming Carlisle is too cowardly to face him, having watched Carlisle sneak up on the dead vampire."

"Someone should collect the body before it can repair itself," Bella whispered.

"Seth and I are on it," Jacob announced, bursting out of the house and into the woods with an impressive speed for a wolf.

"Carlisle's turned on Alec and he's a bit surprised, but he's still sure of himself. He's thinking about how much better it'll be to show Aro the weapon instead of just telling him about it. He's already imagining every guard member carrying around one of them."

"Shit," Jasper muttered, having joined us. "We can't let them get their hands on this stuff. Yeah, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out, but so far, none of them have come up with the idea. I'd prefer to keep it that way."

"They're wrestling on the ground, with Alec on top. I can't tell if Carlisle is playing with him or not. He just keeps thinking about how he has to protect us all." Edward lurched forward, like he wanted to run off after them, but Bella held him back. "Alec just bit Carlisle's shoulder. He's hurt, but he's still fighting."

"How bad is it?" Bella whispered.

Edward waved her off with an impatient swipe of his hand. He was lucky Bella was the kind of woman to look at the big picture and let a gesture like that go—Rose would have smacked the hell out of me. "Carlisle's finally rolled them so that he's on top, but he's having trouble holding Alec down and getting the wire into position." Edward got an awed look on his face all of a sudden. "Esme found them. She's got Alec's hands and head pinned to the ground." There was a pause and then Edward gave a sigh of relief. "It's over. With Esme holding Alec, Carlisle was able to get the wire around his neck."

The rest of us let out our breaths too, and I shook my head a little. I remembered back when the only entertainment available was radio and I would get all excited, listening to the ups and downs of the announcer's voice as he read to us about Avenger; Edward could've had a great radio voice.

"Done," came through our earpieces in Esme's voice. She sounded upset, like whenever I broke something around the house, but a lot worse.

"I don't know if he was just thinking about her, or if he really can communicate with her…" Edward said, shaking his head. "She's too far away to know. But if it worked, Jane knows Alec is dead. Not the how, but just that his life is over."

"Edward, if Jane is coming, then we need to talk," Bella told him. "I have an idea."

Seth appeared, along with Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle was holding his shoulder, Esme was holding Alec's body, and Seth had a third body. Jasper and I went to them and I took the body from Esme while Jasper took a look at Carlisle's shoulder.

"Where's Jacob?" Bella asked, looking into the trees.

"He's helping to look for the last vampire," Seth replied.

"Alice, no!" Edward yelled suddenly, causing us all to turn in his direction.

* * *


	8. Too Close for Comfort

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:Too Close for Comfort**

**Chapter Song:Awake by Godsmack**

**Rosalie's POV**

"Done," Esme announced. I didn't like her tone, not one little bit. She sounded too frazzled, even for what we were doing. I was ready to get back to the house, and the tone of my mother's voice just increased that desire. I just needed to find this last target and then I could be with Emmett and our family again.

I really hoped he was behaving himself. When Emmett got stressed out, the child in him came out more than usual. He had such an odd way of relieving his stress, but that was my Emmett. He made this life worthwhile and enjoyable, no matter how I'd come into it.

My circles were becoming tighter as I flew through the trees, trying to be as quiet as possible as I listened for the final vampire. I caught a whiff of Alice's scent and sped up a little, figuring she could use her little gift and we could take out this idiot, and then get home to our family.

Alice's scent got stronger and I stopped, trying to pick up if she was to my left or right. I heard a gasp and knew it was my sister—I also knew she was in trouble.

I headed in the direction the sound had come from, careful not to make a sound. Peeking around a huge rock, I saw a tall, dark skinned vampire with long blonde hair, holding my sister from behind.

He breathed on her and then licked her ear—it took everything in me not to hurl at the sight of that. Memories of being in a very similar position flooded my mind and I struggled to push them away again. My sister needed me and I needed to be in control of my anger if I was going to save her.

With another heavy breath against my sister's face, he spoke to her. "You're the future seeing one. Tell me sweet little thing, did you see your death?"

"No," Alice replied, her voice trembling.

Oh, this bastard was _so_ going to pay! No one scared my sister! Especially not some Volturi piece of crap like this guy.

In a move Edward would've been proud of, I was behind the vamp with my wire around his neck in less than a second. "Mind if we make it a threesome?" I hissed into this idiot's ear. I quickly answered before he could. "On second thought, three's a crowd." I yanked on the wire and sent his head spinning up into the air. It landed with a dull thud and Alice kicked it a little ways away from the body.

"Rose," Alice sobbed, clutching me with those short little arms of hers.

"You're fine, Alice," I assured her, rubbing her back. "Just take a deep breath."

"I never saw him! I was seeing a few minutes ahead and then it all went black suddenly," she said, running her words together. "I never even heard him either. How could I be so stupid to get myself caught like that? Jasper's going to have a complete fit."

"Calm down, Alice. You're fine. And Jasper's just going to be happy to see you safe and sound," I told her, trying to soothe her. "He was the last of the eight, Alice. We can go back to the house and you can see Jasper."

"Damn! Late again," Jacob muttered, stepping out from behind a tree.

"Well, that explains your sudden blankness," I said, glaring at Jacob. "Didn't Jasper tell you to stay at the house?"

"Esme needed some help with her bodies," Jacob shrugged, picking up the remains of the one I'd taken care of.

"You very nearly got my sister killed," I hissed at him.

"How the hell do you figure that one, Blondie?" he asked. I assumed he was attempting to look angry. Too bad for him that he just looked like a petulant little puppy.

I got right up in his face, daring him to make the slightest move. "Mutt, next time you're given orders, follow them! If you can't do that, go home!" I yelled. A haze started to appear around him and I knew I was getting to him.

"If you weren't Bella's sister—" he growled.

"What? What would you do if I wasn't?" I goaded. "Tell me, little wolf boy. Just what would you do?"

"Rose, please," Alice said, grabbing my arm.

"No, I want to know what he would do," I argued, pulling my arm away from her. I wanted my hands free in case this idiot was stupid enough to come after me.

"Nothing," he grumbled. "Let's just get back to the others."

"What's wrong, Jacob? Is the little doggie afraid of the big bad vamp?" I asked, in a whiny voice.

"I don't know what your problem with me is, but I wish you'd hurry the hell up and get over it already," Jacob replied.

"My problem is _you_!" I hissed, poking him in the chest with one long, red fingernail.

"Rose, it's not his fault. Not really. He was trying to help, after all," Alice said, taking up for the stupid dog. "And I really just want to go back to the house and see Jasper, not referee you two."

I understood her second reason a lot better so I decided to let this go for now. "Let's get you home, Alice."

"I don't suppose you have any antibacterial wipes on you?" Alice asked me as we ran back toward the house.

"Even if that guy was carrying some disease on him, bacteria can't touch us," I reminded her.

"Yeah, I know. But at least the wipe would've helped with the ick factor of that creep licking my ear," Alice replied, roughly scrubbing her ear with the palm of her hand.

"He's lucky he's dead. If Jasper had found out about it, he would have strung him up and played detach-reattach with a very male body part," I chuckled.

"That's so gross!" Alice laughed.

"Yeah, but you know it's true. Jasper is a calm vamp most days, but mess with his woman and he'll show you the southern soldier inside," I chuckled.

"I love my southern vampire," Alice sighed.

"You blo—You Cullen girls sure are weird," Jacob said. He was damn lucky he'd caught himself. Right now was not the time to call me names. And being a friend of Bella's would only save the wolf so many times.

The house finally came into view and our whole family was standing out front. Jasper looked like he was tending to Carlisle's shoulder, Esme was nervously biting at her thumb, Bella was clinging to Edward, and Seth and Emmett appeared to be standing guard. I was never so happy to see all that bulk on my man. I knew the second I was in those arms of his, I would feel calm and safe again.

Just as we reached them, they all moved and attacked Alice. "What's this all about?" Alice laughed from somewhere in the pile of vampires holding her.

"Edward said you got ambushed," Jasper said. He must have really been upset because he was leaking equal measures of relief, love, and aggravation out.

"She's fine, Jasper," I assured him, wanting him to reign in those emotions of his. The last thing we needed was a round of aggravation floating out and making the wolves phase.

"Rosalie took good care of me," Alice told him.

Emmett walked up and wrapped his arms around me, kissing my cheeks, my forehead, both sides of my neck and then my lips. "I love you, Baby," he sighed, rubbing his cheek against mine.

I smiled and tugged playfully on the curls at the back of his head. "You damn well better." I looked around at my family, taking in all of their appearances to make sure they were okay. The only two that still seemed out of sorts were Esme and Carlisle. "What happened?" I asked Emmett.

"Carlisle battled Alec and got bit in the shoulder. Jazz says he's going to be fine—it's mainly just the sting of the venom bothering him. Esme just happened to run up on them and helped Carlisle end Alec. She's freaking out a little, wondering what would've happened to Carlisle if she hadn't shown up. Jasper's been trying to calm her, but no go so far."

"Come on," I said, tugging at his arm. I pulled him over to Esme and then I pulled her between us, making sure Emmett and I were hugging her tightly. "He's okay, Mom. We're all okay. And we're still going to be okay tomorrow. We're all going to make sure of it."

"Um…Rose?" Bella called, sounding a little unsure of herself.

I looked over and found her darting her eyes between Edward's face and mine. My brother's jaw was tense and he looked ready to snap something in half. "What's up, Bella?" I asked her.

"I have an idea. And I need you to help Edward see that it's the only way to make sure we'll all still be okay tomorrow," she said, glancing once more at Edward.

Damn! This must be one hell of an idea if Edward was all worked up and Bella needed _me_ to sell it. Edward and I didn't always see eye-to-eye on things, but one area where we'd always—with the exception of Bella—agreed was the safety and protection of our family.

"What's your idea, Bella?" I asked, feeling a bit excited to hear it. I hoped it was good and worth all of Edward's tension.

"In private," Bella said, motioning me over with her little hand.

I was even more intrigued now. With one last hug to my mother and a wonderful kiss to tide my husband over, I headed inside with Edward and Bella. Hopefully, my little sister had managed to have one of those genius moments she was sometimes known for and really would get us all out of this mess. I'd already come too close for comfort to having a family member get hurt right in front of my eyes. I _needed_ my entire family with me in this life, all eight of us.

* * *


	9. Calm Before Storm

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:Calm Before the Storm**

**Chapter Song:Just A Girl by No Doubt**

**Bella's POV**

Having Rose on my side had done exactly what I'd thought it would—Edward had caved and agreed that my plan was a smart one. Maybe even the only one that would give us a real chance tonight.

"So it's settled then," Rose announced, looking around at all of us. "Bella, you're nearly as good at strategizing as Jasper there."

"Oh, I doubt that," I chuckled nervously. If I hadn't believed so deeply in this idea, I never would have argued so much with Edward. The last thing I wanted to do tonight was fight with him. But I had to protect him and our family, and this really was the way to do that.

"Well, I'm glad that's settled," Alice chirped. "Now Edward can stop pouting and we can enjoy a little peace before the second wave hits."

"Anything yet?" Jasper asked, looking over at Edward and me.

"Not yet," Edward replied, his arms tightening around my waist just the smallest bit.

I put my hands over his and opened my mind to him, careful to leave him able to hear everyone around us. "_Edward, please think rationally about my plan and not about the perceived danger to me. I'm not some fragile human girl and _**you**_ taught me how to defend myself. And it's not like I'll be alone for any second of it. You'll be right there with me."_

"_I can't protect you from _**her**_."_ Even his thought sounded like an angry hiss.

"_I know that. You can't protect any of us from her. But maybe _**I**_ can. Isn't it at least worth the attempt?_"

"_Isabella_—"

I interrupted him before he could really get going with his arguments again. "_I have always had faith in you, even when you didn't. Please, Edward. Please have faith in me this time._"

"_It's not a question of whether or not I have faith in you, Love. It's knowing how devious and despicable she is. We might be able to get our hands on her, but after that…_" His shrug finished his thought.

"_If it works the way it should, it won't matter how tricky she is. She won't be able to do much in her condition._"

"So many 'if's' tonight," he sighed out loud.

I turned in his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Please?"

He smiled, but it was so sad that it made my heart ache for him. "Okay."

"Edward, relax," Rose said. She walked over, putting her arm around his back and her head on his shoulder.

I chuckled as I looked at her, our foreheads nearly touching. "Did you ever think in your wildest dreams you and I would ever be this close? Much less hugging Edward together?"

"Nope," Rose chuckled, popping the "p". "I was sure Edward was going to sulk his way through eternity."

"Thank you, Rosalie. It's always so lovely to hear how you regard me."

"But now we all get to enjoy a very different version of Edward," Rose continued, ignoring Edward's sarcastic remarks. "Now that he has you at his side, I'm pretty sure my brother's going to smile his way through this very long life."

"Absolutely," I agreed, smiling up at Edward.

"Oh, and Bella?" Rose called.

I turned my face back to her to see what she wanted.

"If you screw up this idea of yours and get yourself hurt, I'm going to beat your ass for putting Edward through that," Rose promised.

"I told you she loved you," I sang to Edward, looking up at him.

He laughed loudly, hugging both Rosalie and me against his chest. "Even when I don't want to, the two of you make me laugh."

"Who us?" Rose asked, feigning innocence. "We're just girls. What do we know about anything?" She gave a devilish smirk and then sauntered off toward Emmett.

"You are one very dangerous creature, Isabella Cullen," Edward sighed, resting his forehead against mine. "And I wouldn't have you any other way."

"I was taught by the best people in all the world," I told him. "It's good to be a Cullen."

He smiled as he started to bring his lips to meet mine. My own eyes fluttered closed as I enjoyed the anticipation of something good coming my way on such a dark night.

But those lips never reached mine. Edward's shoulders tensed under my arms and his voice was heavy and dark when he spoke. "They're coming."

My eyes flew open, looking right up into his dark topaz eyes. "Is she with them?"

"No," Edward said, keeping his face blank. He was probably relieved and didn't want to show it.

"How many?" Jasper asked.

"Fifty or sixty," Edward replied. "They're all in an uproar and it's making it hard to distinguish the different minds. Seems Aro has put a price on our heads."

"Since when do vampires care about money?" I asked, feeling confused.

"Money's not the prize. Positions in Aro's private guard are the reward," Edward explained.

"Well, Aro better get used to seeing the same ol' faces he's been looking at," Emmett announced, squaring his shoulders and standing up to his full height. "Nobody's getting promoted tonight."

"Backpacks, now!" Jasper ordered. "It won't take them long to cover the five miles."

No one wasted time replying. We all ran into the house and started getting ready. Edward and I wished our family good luck and then went into the interior room, closing the door on them. Jacob and Seth would be in the front room, and the rest of our family would be surrounding the house. The fight was here and it was no time to be afraid, or nervous, or anxious. It was time to focus and be serious. It was time to show these monsters just how strong the Cullen family truly was.

* * *


	10. Bright White Room

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:The Bright White Room**

**Chapter Song:Stand Alone by Godsmack**

**Unidentified Vampire's POV**

These Cullen vampires thought they were so special. They really thought they could just defy Master Aro's wishes and leave this place. Ha! We would show them differently. It wouldn't take us anytime at all to bring eight vampires into custody. Regardless of the mind reader and the one who sees futures, we would crush them and bring them to kneel before Master Aro. And then, I would take my rightful place in Master Aro's personal guard.

I was so close to the house that I could hear their whispers. I slipped right up to the edge of the trees, expecting to find them cowering together, worrying over where to run. Stupid vampires like these where always trying to run—they never got far, though.

When I finally peered around the trunk of the tree, what I saw dried the venom from my mouth…A dark hulking figure was right in front of me, looking down upon me. I couldn't tell which part was man and which was shadow. I tried to find his face, but even my vampire sight couldn't pierce the darkness of his hood.

"What are you?" I managed to ask.

He leaned forward and the faint moonlight bounced off of his overly white teeth, showing off his malicious grin. "Your worst nightmare, asshole."

I growled at him, prepared to fight even though I was sure I wouldn't come out alive. It had been too many years since anyone had actually stood and fought the guard openly. But I was no coward and if I was going down, it was going to be in a fight.

I launched myself at the mass, hoping like hell that he was more shadow than man. As his oversized hand wrapped almost completely around my neck, I realized I had severely misjudged his size. This was no man—this was a _giant_.

"See this?" he asked, holding up something that glittered in the light filtering into the small clearing.

I managed to nod in his grip and watched in amazement as his grin grew wider and more wicked.

"Want to know what it is?" he asked.

I shook my head—I didn't want to know anything about what he was holding. For some reason, I was positive it meant the end of me.

"Babe, stop toying with your kill and finish it," a female vampire hissed.

"Lucky for you, she's impatient," he sighed, lifting that glittering rope thing higher.

I was suddenly dropped to my feet. I was so shocked I didn't even have time to run, and the next thing I knew, something hard and cold was constricting around my neck. And then there was nothing but the blackness.

I started walking, trying to figure out where I was. The big one must have knocked me out and tossed me into some sort of room. I just needed to find the way out. There was no room that could hold a vampire indefinitely—at least not that I knew of. I just needed a door or a wall to break through.

I walked for much longer than should have been possible. Maybe it wasn't a room. Maybe it was a warehouse. Or a long shipping trailer like I'd seen on the boats bringing goods in and out of the country.

After what seemed liked hours, but surely couldn't have been more than a few minutes, I started to see a faint light. I ran toward it, wanting to get back to the fight as soon as possible. I didn't want anyone to report to Master Aro that I hadn't done my share in battle.

The light grew stronger, but so did my apprehension. Something wasn't right about all of this. How could these Cullen vampires, as stupid and ungrateful as they were, be smart enough to have a storage area built right under our noses? They lived in the states and we'd been watching them enough to know not a single one of them had vacationed since Master Aro had invited them to Italy.

I made it to the light and found that it was seeping around the edges of a closed door. I found the handle and yanked. The door opened only a fraction as its rusty hinges screamed in protest. Again, that seemed wrong. If you wanted quick access to a room you were storing vampires in, why would you not have a properly working door. And if you were storing vampires, where were the rest? Where were those that had been sent to scout ahead of us all? Had Jane been right? Was Alec dead? Were the others dead? Was I…was _I_ dead?

Suddenly, I didn't care if I was apprehensive. I needed that door open! I needed to know what was on the other side of it. I needed to know my true fate.

The door was so rusted that even my vampire strength couldn't get it to open quickly. I pulled and pulled for what seemed liked ages before I finally got it open wide enough to slip through it. And as soon as I made it through, it swung closed quickly and without a sound. I tried to push it open from this side, but it was sealed shut. How could anything be sealed shut against a vampire?

Reluctantly, I turned from the door to face what lied beyond it. And though I had no blood within me, I felt the sensation of it draining away from my face as I looked upon the sight before me. Rows and rows and rows of humans and vampires alike, probably thousands deep filled this brightly lit space. Every cut, bite, bruise, and broken body part stood out in stark contrast from the harsh white lighting…All injuries I had inflicted over my long, long life.

"Welcome, Nuncio," they all greeted together. Every voice was full of pain and grief, and the sound burned my ears. I covered them with my hands as they continued to welcome me, but it did no good. I could still hear them perfectly.

"Shut up!" I screamed. "Shut up before I attack you all!"

"You cannot hurt us," a little blonde haired girl said, pointing and laughing at me. "You are in our realm now. We welcome you, Nuncio. We have much to share."

"Much to share," the other voices agreed, until it sounded like they were all crying and weeping together.

"What?" I screamed. "What do you want to share with me?"

"The pain," one set of voices announced.

"The hurt," a second set added.

"The loss," they all cried. "We have waited for you. Some of us for many centuries."

"You've wasted your time. I am a vampire and you cannot harm me. You're nothing but energies of people long dead."

"Show him," that same little girl giggled.

"Yes, show him," a wrinkled old man agreed, pointing at me.

One by one, they chanted "show him" until the entire room was once again filled with all of their voices.

A young man with black hair and blue eyes stepped forward from the crowd and the voices immediately stilled. I watched him approach, wary of his motives, but intrigued to find out what exactly was going on here.

He smiled kindly at me as he spoke. "C'était mon vingt et unième anniversaire, la nuit où vous m'avez tué."

But I had no idea what he was saying. I'd been raised Italian and I'd only learned English because I'd had no choice. "What is he saying?" I asked the crowd.

A woman in a blood-spattered business suit stepped forward and stood next to the man. She held no expression on her face as she translated. "It was my twenty-first birthday, the night you killed me."

"J'étais ivre avec mes amis, marchant près du fleuve et chantant au sujet de la vie et de l'amour."

"I was drunk with my friends, walking close to the river and singing about life and love."

"J'ai eu une nouvelle amie, un travail gentil, et ma famille n'était pas pauvre. J'ai eu une grande vie."

"I had a new girlfriend, a nice job, and my family was not poor. I had a great life."

"Vous l'avez volé tout de moi. Vous m'avez pris de la rue, avez vidangé mon sang, et m'avez puis laissé avec les ordures seul pour mourir. Je veux que vous voyiez exactement ce que vous avez fait à moi."

"You stole it all from me. You took me from the street, drained my blood, and then left me with the garbage to die alone. I want you to see exactly what you did to me."

The young man stepped forward and grabbed my wrist. I tried to pull it away, but he was somehow stronger than me.

"Let go! What are you doing? Let me go this instant!" I demanded.

"In…time," he managed with a very clipped accent. He pointed at me and then himself. "You…see…me."

And just like that, I began to see him and to know him. As each image filled my mind, I knew every detail about it, as if I'd known this man his entire life, instead of the few minutes it had taken me to murder him. I saw his childhood with his parents—he was the youngest of five. His parents were already gray by the time he made it through high school. He lived with them, trying to take care of them since his other siblings were all married and moved away. His girlfriend was beautiful, with brown hair and brown eyes. She loved him immensely and was always hugging him. He was respected at his job. He was only an assistant, but he was always willing to help others and it made him stand out.

And then I saw the night I took his life. I felt his surprise when I suddenly appeared out of the shadows. I felt his fear when he saw my blood red eyes and realized I was not another friend, joining the drunken party. I felt his weakness as I drained him, and his worry for his loved ones, wondering who would take care of them once I killed him. He had no doubt that he would die, and he was only afraid for his loved ones, not for himself—how odd I found that. I felt the cold and the loneliness of waiting to die, and smelled the stench of the dank alleyway where I'd left his body.

The images changed and I saw a gray haired woman with thick glasses. She was trying to make herself a cup of tea. She turned the burner on and put the pot down, and then walked away to tend to the family cat. She'd forgotten to check if the stove was lit. She was always forgetting. Corbett—that was this man's name—knew she had tea every day at the same time, so he always called to remind her before she put the pot on. But he was no longer there. She got distracted by the cat and then by the television show she'd been watching before she'd decided she wanted tea. She sat in her chair and watched her show as the house filled with gas. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep and never wake again. One of Corbett's sisters took the father in, but he didn't stay for long—he missed his wife too much. He died peacefully in his sleep only seven weeks after he'd buried his beloved, and nine weeks after he'd buried his son.

Once again, the images changed and I was no longer looking at what had happened—I was seeing what _would_ have happened had I left this young man alone. I saw him marrying the girlfriend and having twins, one boy and one girl. I saw him taking care of his parents for quite awhile longer before they both passed peacefully in their sleep. I saw his son becoming a doctor and working with a team of scientist to find a cure for childhood cancer. I saw his daughter having a perfectly normal life as a housewife and mother. And I saw Corbett with his wife, watching his grandchildren run across his lawn. I'd seen what was and what could have been and for the first time in my long, undead life, I felt regret.

"You…see…yes?" Corbett questioned, somehow managing to squeeze my wrist even harder.

"Yes! Yes, I see. Please. Let me go. I didn't know," I told him.

"Yes, let him go, Corbett," the woman who had translated said. "It's my turn."

"No! No more turns," I argued, trying again to pull away from Corbett.

"Oh, yes," she said, smiling wide. "We each get a turn. Every last one of us. Some of us have longer stories, and some have shorter. You will see them all, Nuncio. You will see the true destruction you have wrought in this world."

"I was a vampire! I was only doing what was in my nature!" I defended, still trying to get my wrist free.

"Liar," the woman said. It was immediately picked up by all the other voices until I thought I would go insane from that one word being screamed at me.

"We need blood!" I cried. "We have to!"

"The Cullen family doesn't," the little blonde-haired girl piped up. "They don't kill humans."

"The animal drinkers," I spat. "They are not true vampires."

"Nope," the little girl giggled. "They have souls. They will go to Heaven as a family when their day comes."

"You mean when the guard and Master Aro finishes with them tonight," I corrected her.

"Oh, silly Nuncio," the little girl sighed, shaking her head. "The Cullen family will live for another millennia. Or possibly two. It depends on how long the Earth will live."

"And me? How long will I live?" I asked her.

"Time is different here," she said.

"How long will I live?"

"I told you, time is different here."

"How long?" I yelled at her.

The translating woman answered this time. "Nuncio, you've been dead a week already."

My scream was drowned out by the sound of thousands upon thousands of laughing voices.

* * *

Just a little note...The girl says the Cullen's live, not that they get away unharmed.


	11. Viewing Pleasure

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:And Now For Your Viewing Pleasure…**

**Chapter Song:Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting by Nickelback**

**Emmett's POV**

One sawed in half vamp. Two sawed in half vamps. Three sawed in half vamps…that last guy brought my body count up to twenty. I was doing pretty good for myself with this saw. They'd started out in ones and twos at first and I'd gotten a few with the wire, but now I had to use the saw—not that I minded. But there was something to be said for that wire. That first little pipsqueak I'd used it on probably hadn't even realized he was dead with how quick his head had flown off his body.

"Out of air!" Rose yelled.

I immediately moved in front of her, protecting her while she changed out the can in her saw. My eyes happened to have scanned her own pile of eliminated guard members. The woman had _twenty-four_. A lesser man might have been jealous, but I was just damn glad she was mine. And that she was so damn sexy no matter what she was doing. When this was all over with, we were going to spend a week in bed with me showing her just how lucky I felt to have her in my life.

Two of the Volturi idiots decided to charge me, coming at me from both sides. I kicked the first one square in the chest, sending him flying off through the trees. He was going to be down for awhile—I'd heard his sternum and rib bones crack. The second vampire got an arm liberated. And then Rosie took his head off for him.

Rose and I were covering the front door to the house and were seeing most of the action. Not that I was complaining—I was always up for a good fight. Still, I wouldn't have minded a break for Rose's sake.

"Are they thinning out yet?" Rose asked.

"Don't know. Ask Eddie," I replied with a grunt as I wrestled with yet another vamp. Why these idiots thought they could get this saw out of my hands was beyond me, but they sure kept trying…and dying!

"Edward, are we getting anywhere or what?" Rose yelled into the earpiece, trying to be heard over the loud whirring of her saw cutting through a vampire's jaw and leaving his face split right down the middle. I took the rest of his head off his neck and kicked it to the side.

"Their numbers are down, but she's coming. We need that distraction Bella and you came up with," Edward told her.

"Hot damn!" Rose laughed, using one of my phrases. "Alright, Emmett, baby. You ready to make some real sparks fly?"

"Anything for you, Sexy!" I chuckled.

"Then let's move the line," Rose said.

I tossed my hood back and slid the mask Alice had brought for me down over my face. I was damn glad the pixie had been able to see enough to know this thing would come in handy.

I revved my saw loudly and gave a demonic laugh as I started stomping toward the oncoming vampires. They'd never seen anything like me and they all stopped to watch my approach. I wondered what I looked like to them…A huge vampire dressed in black, with a white hockey mask over his face and a huge red saw in his hands.

As I stomped forward, I made sure to clip any rocks I came across with the edge of the saw, sending sparks flying into the air around me. All eyes were focused on me and I hoped I was giving an attention-locking performance. My family was counting on me to be the biggest distraction these guards had ever seen, and I damn sure wasn't going to let them down.

"We made it," came through my earpiece in Bella's soft whisper of a voice.

I stopped walking and gave my laugh again, shaking the saw above my head. One part of the plan had been safely executed. Now, it was time for phase two. "Your choice tonight is very simple," I announced to the crowd of vampires. "Leave now and we will let you live. Tell Aro that the Cullen family renounces the term vampire and no longer answers to him, or any member of the Volturi."

"And if we don't," some stupid black-haired woman vamp hissed.

"Were you supposed to be scary?" I asked her. "'Cause, Honey, you ain't seen scary until you've thrown an M-80 in the toilet and ruined your wife's favorite towel. I've done that, so you don't scare me at all."

"Enough nonsense!" the woman vamp yelled. "Get him!"

A few of the vampires took a cautious step toward me, and I smirked behind my mask. I had these cowardly idiots ready to piss their pants—if vampires could do that, I mean.

I revved the saw once more and laughed loudly. "Come and get some."

The vampires looked around at each other, not quite sure if they should listen to me.

"NOW!" Jasper ordered.

And just like that, we started closing in the little triangle we'd made while the vampires were distracted, mowing them down left and right as we went. Hands, feet, arms, legs, and plenty of heads flew through the air around me, making me feel like I was in the world's largest and strangest ball pit.

As gory as this crap was, I couldn't help myself from finding it a little funny. I felt like I was in some cheesy horror flick a group of teenage girls would find scary, while swooning over boys and tossing popcorn all over the place.

But this was no horror movie. It was much, much worse than that because this was real. We really had to kill these people and there was no taking it back. And because that was such a heavy thought, I needed to lighten the mood. So I opened my mouth and started singing.

"_Don't give us none of your aggravation_

_We had it with your discipline_

_Saturday night's alright for fighting_

_Get a little action in._"

Jasper laughed and then started singing along with me. I had to wonder if I'd gotten the best of his emotions. I hoped to hell I wasn't distracting him. Alice would rip me apart if anything happened to Jasper because of me.

"_Get about as oiled as a diesel train_

_Gonna set this town alight_

_`Coz Saturday night's the night I like_

_Saturday night's alright, alright, alright._"

"Rosie, let's show these two how to properly carry a tune," Alice chuckled. And then there were four of us singing as we worked our way through the quickly thinning crowd of vampires.

"_P-p-p-p-packed pretty tight in here tonight_

_I'm looking for a woman to treat me right_

_I could use a little muscle to get what I need_

_I'll drink a fifth of jack and scream out "She's with me!"_"

Before we could get started on the next verse, Carlisle and Esme took the lead, with us jumping in a few seconds later.

"_A couple of sounds that I really like_

_Are the sounds of a switchblade and a motorbike_

_I'm a juvenile product of the working class_

_Whose best friend floats from the bottom of a glass_

_Don't give us none of your aggravation_

_We had it with your discipline_

_Saturday night's alright for fighting_

_Get a little action in._"

"You know Nickelback?" Rose asked our parents.

"Elton John, Dear," Esme corrected.

"I do believe we could take this show on the road one day," I laughed, kicking the latest fallen head away from me.

I looked around for my next vampire, but found my family to be the only ones standing anymore. I turned off the saw and took a good look around me for the first time in the last ten minutes. The ground was littered with so many bodies and body parts that it was hard to see the ground beneath. Such a ridiculous waste of life, too. If Aro hadn't been such an ass and had just left us alone, none of this would've happened.

"Let's get a fire going," Jasper said, appearing with four gas cans. There was no sense in worrying about the smoke alerting anyone anymore. We'd taken out close to a hundred of Aro's guard so far—he was definitely going to notice them missing.

Jasper handed the cans out to Carlisle, Rose, and me. The four of us started running around the mass of bodies, drenching them with the liquid. Esme and Alice came behind us with torches, setting the bodies on fire where they lay.

With the fire blazing bright, I started kicking the loose body parts into the flames, making sure we burned every last piece of the guard.

"I got a glimpse!" Alice shrieked excitedly. "They have her and they're on their way back to the house."

"That's wonderful news," Esme said, giving a little smile.

"Only one problem," Alice sighed. "They were seen by Felix. He was trying to stop her from running in by herself. He's almost to the castle and he'll tell Aro she's been captured. We'll have about a hundred and fifty guards on the way to try and get her back. And Aro will be with them."

"Then let's get ourselves ready to welcome him," Jasper said. "Change out the saw blades and air cans right now. I want everyone with a clean and ready-to-go weapon."

Without a word, we started heading toward the house to follow his orders. Just as we reached the door, Edward, Bella, Jacob, and Seth came out of the woods…carrying something small and wrapped in chains.

* * *


	12. Importance

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:Importance**

**Chapter Song:War Pigs by Cake**

**Bella's POV**

"Bella." Edward didn't need to say another word. It was all in the tone he used and the way his body had stiffened around mine.

"We need to go now," I said, opening the door.

"She's alone. We won't get a better shot," he agreed.

"Then let's not waste time," Jacob said, cracking his knuckles.

"Turn out the light," I told him.

"They can't see in. The shutters are closed," Jacob replied, looking annoyed.

"Yeah, but they will when we open the door," I pointed out. "Just do as I say, Jacob. I don't have time to argue with you right now."

He turned off the light and I inched the door open just a little. Rose and Emmett were fighting together not too far in front of the house.

Rose's voice and the whine of her saw suddenly came through my earpiece. "Edward, are we getting anywhere or what?"

"Their numbers are down, but she's coming. We need that distraction Bella and you came up with," Edward told her.

"Hot damn!" Rose laughed, sounding so much like Emmett. "Alright, Emmett, baby. You ready to make some real sparks fly?"

"Anything for you, Sexy!" Emmett told her.

"Then let's move the line," Rose said.

Emmett pushed his hood back and slid his hockey mask over his face. It was probably going to end up being one of his favorite keepsakes when this was over. The minute Alice had produced it from her bag, he'd been just like a little kid at Christmas. He'd immediately put it on and grabbed a saw, forcing one of my dormant human memories to resurface…I'd been in a home improvement store with the family, and Emmett had stolen me away from Edward. He'd said he wanted to show me something Edward might like to get as a gift. And then, he'd jumped out from behind an aisle wearing a hockey mask and welding a saw, scaring me so badly that I'd slept with the lights on for a week straight—even with having Edward right next to me.

Emmett made the saw get louder and then he started laughing in a really creepy way as he walked toward the vampires. Things seemed to be working perfectly because all eyes were on my big brother.

"Let's go," Edward whispered, tugging on my hand.

The four of us slipped out of the house and ran for the woods to our right. We moved as quickly and quietly as we could, trying to get beyond the wall of vampires that were focused on Emmett and the house behind him.

As quietly as I could, I whispered into the earpiece to let our family know we were okay so far. "We made it." I looked up at Edward. "Will they be okay?"

"They know how to take care of each other. Let's get this done and make all their hard work worth it," he replied.

I nodded my head; we had to do this and it had to work just the way I thought if we were going to have a real fighting chance.

"Stop," Edward whispered. "She's heading straight this way. Jacob, Seth, phase now."

Jacob and Seth darted to the right, behind a couple of larger trees. When they reappeared seconds later, they were not the two boys I was friends with, but two large wolves, standing in the middle of the woods and looking more menacing than I'd remembered.

Edward grabbed me by the waist and in two jumps, he had us halfway up the tree, looking down on Jacob and Seth. Trying to settle myself on the limb, I accidentally dipped into his thoughts—luckily, I only grazed his mind and didn't block him from hearing everyone else—and I recoiled from what I heard. It was Jane and her thoughts were so loud and bitter! I didn't know how Edward could stand it. "_They'll pay. They'll all pay! I'm coming, Alec. You'll be fine. Just hold out for me. They wouldn't dare burn you. They're cowards! They probably ambushed you. We'll make them pay, brother. I swear it_."

I turned my face into Edward's shoulder, just needing to breathe him in and calm myself. I wanted so badly to show him how strong and focused I could be, but up against so much rage and hate…

Edward squeezed my fingers and I reopened my mind to him. "_Don't be afraid. Her anger will work against her and she'll never see us coming._"

Edward had barely finished his thought before Jane appeared, stopping dead in her tracks at the sight of the two large wolves before her. She tilted her head to the right and stared open-mouthed at them. Jacob and Seth used her confusion against her and launched their attack together. They each managed to get a claw into her before Jane hit them with her power, knocking them to the ground and causing them to howl in pain. Jane leaned down over them, laughing maniacally as she yanked Seth's head up by his fur.

Edward and I jumped from our spot—Jane looked up and saw us, but it was already too late for her. We landed on top of her and my hand immediately went around her neck, instantly starting to drain her of her power. Within seconds, Jacob and Seth were completely fine and the dull throb I'd felt in my own head was completely gone.

I looked over at Edward, sitting on top of Jane's legs, and he smiled wide at me. "Isabella, I'm buying you one hell of a gift when we get home."

I planned to have plenty of time to argue with Edward over that statement, but for right now, there were more pressing matters. "Jacob, Seth, go phase so you can help us carry her back. Edward, start wrapping Jasper's chain around her."

For once in their lives, neither Edward nor Jacob argued with me. Jacob and Seth disappeared behind those same trees from earlier. Edward pulled the chain out of his backpack and started at Jane's ankles, wrapping her legs together.

"Let me go," Jane hissed, finally having found her voice.

"And have you attack my family? I don't think so," I told her.

"You killed my brother."

"Not me personally, but yes."

"Heal him."

"No."

"You won't…or you can't?"

"Can't."

Jane let out a pain-filled cry and struggled beneath me. I made sure her arms were still locked beneath my leg and free arm, and then took a little more of her energy. I wasn't sure if I could kill a vampire with this draining or not so I was being careful—Jane was going to be our bargaining chip. With Alec dead, I knew Aro would come running once he found out we had his Jane.

"What do you want us to do?" Jacob asked, reappearing fully clothed with Seth.

"Stand her up and hold her for Edward to finish wrapping her with the chain," I told him.

"Felix saw us," Edward said as I climbed off of Jane, careful to keep a good grip with the hand I had around her neck.

I felt her neck muscles moving beneath my fingers and I knew just what she was thinking about. I squeezed my fingers tighter around her. "Don't even _think_ of spitting on him. I would prefer to keep you alive for now, but I promise I won't hesitate to end you if you don't behave."

"You will die," Jane promised.

"Maybe one day, but it won't be by your hand," I assured her.

"Let's get her back," Edward said, having finished securing the chain around her little body. The guys picked her up so that she lying across their arms and it was easy for me to keep my grip on her while we ran. The run back to the house was a little disorienting for me—the purple smoke made everything hazy and our surroundings all looked the same. But I was with Edward, so I was sure there was nothing to worry about.

We came out of the trees exactly where we had entered them, meeting up with our family. A quick glance around assured me they were all safe and every vampire that had been part of the second wave was dead.

"It's a silver mummy," Emmett said, staring at Jane.

"Emmett, move," Edward ordered.

Emmett immediately jumped out of the way and we filed into the house and straight on to the interior room. The guys laid Jane on her stomach and I slid my hand around her neck. Once they had her settled on the floor, I sat on her back cross-legged and held her head down against the floor with the hand that had been around her neck.

"Carlisle?" I called.

He walked over and knelt next to me. "Are you feeling okay, Bella?"

"I'm fine," I said, smiling for him. I put my free hand next to his hurt shoulder and transferred the excess energy I'd been pulling out of Jane into Carlisle. It didn't completely remove his bite scar, but it faded it a whole lot. "Better?" I asked.

He moved his arm around, flexing his shoulder. "It hardly even stings now," he said, looking like he didn't quite believe it.

"How in the hell?" Emmett asked, pointing between Carlisle and me.

I chuckled at having shocked _the_ Emmett Cullen.

"I have a better question," Alice chirped. "How did I get that slip of sight earlier? Jacob and Seth were with you."

"They had to go away to phase back and get dressed," I explained.

"Now, Bells, don't act all shy. You know seeing me in the buff would have been the highlight of your life," Jacob teased, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Good thing I'm already dead then," I shot back, grinning at him.

Everyone laughed at that, especially since Jake was actually pouting at me.

"Laugh now, murderers!" Jane hissed. "When Aro comes to get me, you'll spend the rest of your short lives crying out in pain."

"Can it, Sister!" Emmett said, leaning down into her face. "The only one who's going to be crying at the end of this night will be you and Aro."

Jane narrowed her eyes at him and I could feel she was trying to use her power. She tried a few seconds more before finally yelling out in frustration. "What have you done to me, you bitch?" she screamed.

"I took you out of the game," I said simply. I didn't want her knowing how I was doing this just in case I'd misjudged Aro and he didn't want to come to a compromise in order to get her back.

"What now?" Rose asked, leaning up against Emmett.

"We wait," Edward said, sitting next to me and taking my free hand into his.

"Just one sec," I told him, taking my hand back. "Emmett, I need to tell you something."

He leaned down and I looked him right in the eyes, putting a finger over my lips. He nodded and I was sure he would behave himself. I grabbed his hand and transferred the rest of the excess energy to Emmett. I thought it would be a good idea to have a super-charged Emmett ready to go since we were expecting so many guests.

It seemed the energy we carried as vampires was just something we took from everything around us, and wasn't part of our feeding because as much as I'd already drained from Jane, she seemed to be slowly rebuilding the supply. Hopefully, it would stay on this slow progression and I wouldn't need to release it too often. She wasn't stupid and it wouldn't take her long to figure things out.

Emmett's eyes widened as the energy moved into him, but he didn't say a word. Jane was faced the opposite direction so I was pretty sure she had no idea what I was doing. "That's some secret, Bella," Emmett said, moving back toward Rose. He looked equally awed and scared of me—I didn't like that at all.

"Edward," I said, pleading with him to know what I needed. He had to go explain to Emmett and make him understand that it was just silly to be afraid of me. He had to get him to understand.

"Jacob, go change," Edward ordered. I gave a sigh of relief, knowing Edward wouldn't let me down on this.

Jacob disappeared into the other room, closing the door behind him. It wasn't long before we heard scratching on the door. Jasper opened it and a large russet-colored wolf sauntered into the room.

"Sit with Bella. If Jane moves, bite her," Edward said, looking right into Jacob's eyes.

Jacob nodded his head, his fur flying out just a bit with the movement. Edward moved and Jake flopped down into his vacated spot.

Jane's nose wrinkled and she hissed loudly. "It smells."

Jacob gave that wolfy laugh I remembered so clearly and I couldn't stop from laughing with him. "He says you don't smell any better to him," I told her. "And he says to behave because he's not all that fond of vampire meat." My family looked at me oddly, knowing I couldn't communicate with Jacob—but Jane didn't know that!

Seth caught on to what I was doing and joined in, sitting on my opposite side, still in human form. "He also says you're awfully small to be a scary vampire."

"Get _her_ off of me and I'll show you scary," Jane replied.

"Nah, I think we'll leave her there," Seth chuckled. "She looks comfy. You're comfy right, Bella?"

"Do you remember what it felt like to be crippled by my power, dog?" Jane hissed.

"What is it with vampires immediately calling us that!" Seth sighed, shaking his head. "_We_ are werewolves."

"You are dogs! Children of the moon! Uncivilized beasts!" Jane cried.

"And what do you think _you_ are?" I asked, pressing her head harder against the floor than I technically needed to. "You've been after my family from the start, for no reason at all."

"_He_ came here, acting as if he could challenge my master and then just walk away when he changed his mind—all because of _you_. A stupid, weak, senseless human," Jane said.

"You think what you want, Jane," I told her, already bored of dealing with her. She was just so damn hateful.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I've had about all I can stand of her," Jasper said, kneeling down next to us. He laid his hand next to mine on Jane's head and she immediately slumped against the floor. I'd had that done to me a few times and I knew he'd hit her with a big blast of calm. "That should keep her quiet for a half hour or so if we're lucky," he said, winking at me before standing again.

Edward and Emmett entered the room at that second. "They're on their way," Edward announced. "Aro is definitely with them. He's not very happy with little Jane for getting herself caught, but he's also very focused on getting her back unharmed."

Emmett walked over to me and squeezed my shoulder, giving me a little smile—I hoped that meant we were okay. When I'd come up with this plan, I'd never thought it might scare any of my family. "Maybe he'll take a good look at all those ashes out front and decide to negotiate," Emmett said, looking around at all of us. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to get busy with a real vacation."

"If Aro is coming, let's be ready to welcome him," Esme said, picking up her saw from the floor. "I for one want to make sure he knows I don't fear him or his guard."

"Liar," Jane sighed, sounding sleepy.

Esme walked over and squatted down next to Jane. "Little one, while your heart may full of fear and hate, mine is full of love for my family. All of the deaths that have happened tonight and may happen very soon are on Aro's head, not my family's. We wanted peace, but he brought war to our doorstep. No one will vilify us for protecting what is ours. Especially not a little brat like you. You're lucky I don't put you over my knee and spank you." Esme stood and walked right out of the room, not saying anything more. Carlisle smiled proudly and then followed after her.

"We have the _coolest_ mom!" Emmett chuckled, leading Rosalie out of the room.

Alice kissed my cheek and whispered softly into my ear. "You know I can't see with Jake and Seth here, but I'm still positive we'll get out of this, Bella. Be safe."

"You, too, Alice," I told her.

Jasper nodded toward Edward and me as he followed Alice out of the room.

"Jacob, I think it's best if you're human when Aro arrives," Edward cautioned. "If we can keep your unique qualities a secret, the better off we'll be."

"But she saw us already," Seth protested.

"We can convince Aro she was confused from the attack," Edward assured him.

Jacob rose to his feet, growled once at Jane, and then padded out of the room.

"Emmett?" I asked, taking Edward's hand into mine.

"He's fine," Edward said, leaning forward and kissing my cheek sweetly. He tugged my fingers, but I shook my head at him. I wasn't sure if I could handle doing two things at once. Edward smiled proudly at me and nodded his head. "Later."

"So when is this Aro guy going to get here?" Jacob asked, walking back into the room.

"Here's here now," Edward said, sitting up straighter.

This was it! Our one big chance to end things and once and for all and get my family out of this mess safely. We were about to find out just how important Jane was to Aro.

* * *


	13. The End

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter Title:The End**

**Chapter Song:It Ends Tonight by All American Rejects**

**Bella's POV**

With everyone so close, we didn't even need our earpieces to hear what was going on. But I was still glad for them because it let me feel connected to my family even though they were outside of the house now.

"Aro," Carlisle greeted.

"Where is Jane?" Aro asked. If I had to guess at the emotion in his voice, I would pick frustration. Guess he hadn't really figured we would be able to put up much of a fight.

"She's inside," Carlisle replied.

"I wish to see her."

"I'm afraid that's not possible right now. But I assure you, she is unharmed."

"Carlisle, I thought we were friends. Why have you killed my loyal guards? And my son, Alec? Why are you holding my daughter hostage?"

"Since when have you considered Jane and Alec your children?" Carlisle asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"Always, my old friend."

"No, Aro. Considering someone a valuable asset and weapon is not the same as considering them to be your child. If you truly considered them to be your children, you wouldn't have sent them here tonight. And you never would have put my family in this position. You would have been able to understand our desire to live together, away from all of this."

"But look how efficiently you turned my guard to ash!" Aro said, sounding excited. It made my stomach curl to hear the glee in his voice. "Join us, Carlisle. Share your secrets with us."

"The only thing I will share with you is the joy of having a real family and the benefits of drinking animal blood. Other than that, I have no wisdom to give."

"Old friend, are you saying I will have to fight you to get my darling Jane back?"

"Not at all. We're willing to turn her over right now. All that we require is for you to give your word in front of all of these witnesses, and to put in writing, that from this point forward, the Cullen family is not to be touched, approached, or harmed in any way, shape or form for the remainder of eternity. We leave Volterra permanently and peacefully."

"You ask for so very much, Carlisle," Aro sighed. "Such a steep, steep price when I look at Alice…and think of Edward! Where is the dear boy?"

"I thought you were concerned for Jane."

"Oh, yes. Yes, I am. But I'm also immensely curious, as you know. How is it that you've kept my darling Jane from using her gift?"

"Edward, what's he thinking?" I whispered, not wanting to distract him, but needing to know all the same. My own curiosity was running rampant.

"He's figuring his odds of getting Jane out of this house alive and how many of us he would lose in the process. He's thinking that if he allows us to live, we may still one day change our minds and return here willingly. And he's also trying to decide if agreeing to our deal will make him look weak to the rest of the Volturi," Edward explained.

"Master will never agree to just let you all go. You may as well kill me now," Jane said from beneath me.

As I looked down at her, that calculating look in her eyes did not escape my attention. She looked too much like Aro when she schemed and it gave her away instantly. "You would love for that to happen. It would allow Aro to wage war against us and possibly even kill us. Do you really hate us so much that you would sacrifice yourself on the _hope_ that we might die?"

Jane didn't reply. She just closed her eyes and became completely still beneath me.

"No, Jane. We will keep you alive and we will get our promise from Aro. And then we will never see each other again," Edward said.

I lifted an eyebrow at him, waiting for an explanation.

"She was thinking that she just had to find the right words to anger you so that you would lash out. She knows she can't goad me into action, but she was hoping to be able to influence you," Edward told me.

Part of me tried to feel a little bit bad for Jane, having lost her brother tonight. And then I remembered that her hate for us was already extremely evident before Alec died. "So sorry to disappoint, Jane. My husband trained me well and nothing you say will force me to end your life. I think Aro and you deserve each other, actually."

"Aro, do we have a deal?" Carlisle asked.

"I'll need a moment to consider," Aro replied.

"We'll be inside, awaiting your answer," Carlisle told him.

We heard the front door open and close, and then I heard the unmistakable sound of the thick steel beam being drawn across the steel door. It was a sound I'd hope not to hear tonight.

The door to our room opened and Jasper appeared. "Is he really as stupid as he looks? He's actually going to attempt to launch an attack?"

Edward's head was cocked to the side and he had such a deep look of concentration on his face. "Aro is like a child with new toys. He wants to find out exactly how we took out those first two sets of guards. He hasn't ruled out the deal, but he wants to play with us first. He wants to figure out how eight vampires managed to take out so many of his guard."

"Jasper, let's put that extra set of chains around our dear Jane," I said. "Seems like I'm going to need to be on my feet and the extra weight will help make sure she can't move enough to toss me off."

"Em?" Jasper called.

"I'm on it!" Emmett yelled back.

"How should we handle this?" Edward asked, looking up at Jasper.

"You four stay in here with Jane. She's our only bargaining chip and we _have_ to keep her with us. The rest of us will be in the front room. Hopefully, you guys will never see any fighting," Jasper replied.

"I understand the need for that, but I don't like it," Jacob grumbled. "I came over here to kick butt."

"You did fight Jane and take her down with Seth's help," I reminded him.

"It's not the same, Bells. I didn't even get to rip off a single arm this time," Jacob whined.

"You are _such_ a child," I replied, rolling my eyes at him.

Emmett entered the room with the chain in his big hands. "Damn, Jazz! This thing has actual weight to it."

"It has to in order to work on our kind," Jasper said, taking it from him. "Lift her up so I can wrap this around her."

"Give me a second to get off and get a solid grip," I told him.

"No need," Emmett replied. He bent down and lifted Jane up…with me still on top of her! "Finally! I get to flex my muscles a little bit," he chuckled.

"A _little_?" I laughed.

"You're still a light-weight, Bells," Emmett said, winking at me.

Jasper and Edward worked quickly to get the second chain around Jane's small body and then Emmett set us back down on the floor.

"I've seen some strange stuff since I first phased, but I really think this goes beyond that," Seth said, looking down at Jane and me.

"Well, if this works the way it should, you'll never have to worry about seeing it again," I told him.

"Aro's giving the order right now," Edward announced. "They're just going to swarm the house and go for the windows and doors."

"That's about what I figured," Jasper said. His lips pressed into a thin line and he shook his head slowly. "Such a waste." He drew in a breath and stood tall—in that second, I could clearly picture him in a uniform, standing in front of an army and giving a battle cry to wake the dead. I was damn glad Jasper was with us because I'd never want to go up against him.

He must have sent a thought directly to Edward because his head moved the tiniest bit—I'd been with my husband long enough to know that was supposed to be a nod I didn't see. He kept forgetting I had _much_ better eyesight now.

"Let's get ready to greet our company," Jasper said out loud. He and Emmett left the room, closing the door behind them.

"How do you want to run this, Bells?" Jacob asked, looking serious for once.

"I need to stay with Jane to make sure she doesn't get any silly ideas, so right here in the middle of the room is perfect. We've only got the one door to cover, and they hopefully won't make it through the roof or walls," I replied.

"I think Seth should cover the door and Jacob and I will protect you and Jane," Edward said. "If they get in, it's going to be through the roof, but it's going to take them a while first. We'll have plenty of time to move you if we need to."

"I think that sounds really good," I agreed.

"So the object of the game is to keep mummy girl with us," Jacob said. "We totally got this!"

"You are so much like Emmett, it's scary," I told him.

Jacob just shrugged and picked up his saw, checking it over. "This would be easier if I could be more _me_."

"You _really_ don't want Aro taking an interest in you," Edward assured him.

Jacob snorted and shook his head. "Yeah, I see how much of a party it's been for you guys."

The house suddenly began to shake and my head snapped up to find Edward. He was calm on the outside, but from the set of his jaw, I knew he was thrumming with tension. "They just launched their attack," he said.

"What? All of them at the same time?" Seth asked.

"All one hundred and fifty of them," Edward confirmed.

"Shouldn't this house be in pieces?" Jacob questioned, looking around our small room.

"If Jasper hadn't had it modified, it would be rubble," Edward answered.

"Why aren't their saws running?" I asked, attempting not to panic. I'd just realized I didn't hear any noise from the front room.

"Seth, check it out," Jacob ordered.

"No need," Edward interrupted. "I can hear them all just fine. Jasper's instructed them to wait until someone actually gets through. No sense in wasting the air." My husband suddenly started laughing and I couldn't help but smile along with him. There were few sounds in the world I loved more than his laugh, and I treasured it all the more hearing it on a night as dark as this one. "Jasper, they're completely _pissed_. They found the steel and can't believe their punches and kicks are so weak against it."

Emmett's big guffaw was the loudest, but I definitely heard laughter coming from every member of my family.

"Well done, Jasper," Esme said.

It didn't take long before we all started to hear the pounding. It really was coming from all directions, but it was louder from overhead. At least they hadn't bothered with the ground. That would have been a little too freaky for me, seeing a vampire pop up from the ground, like some dead corpse rising from the grave. The last thing I needed Rose to add to her list was "first vampire to be afraid of the dark" and that's exactly what would happen if I had to see something like that. I was a vampire, but I had limits damn it!

There was a metallic crunching sound, almost like nails on a chalkboard and then a fist appeared in the ceiling above Edward's head. In a move so fast I nearly missed it, he wrapped a wire around the wrist and left only the edge of a stump peeking out of the hole.

"Holy shit!" Jacob yelled, just like he'd done on the video. "I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing that."

"Let's hope none of us have to see it again," Edward replied, dropping the hand into a large barrel. Jasper had certainly planned for every contingency.

"Jake, come here," I said, waving him over. When he was beside me, I used his arm to get myself into a standing position on Jane's back. I had one foot on her neck and one right in the middle of her back. "Thanks."

"Anything for you, Bells. You know that," Jake told me, giving me one of his real smiles.

I heard that sound of air being parted again and looked up to see a booted foot falling to the floor between Edward and me. Edward retrieved the foot and dumped it in with the hand.

"You get any more parts in there and you'll have to set it on fire," Jacob mentioned.

"At least we have a ventilation hole," Edward smirked, pointing at the spot in the ceiling.

"And we're about to have a second," I told them, pointing above Jacob's head. Tiny pieces of plaster were falling into his black hair.

"How do you want me to handle this?" Jacob asked Edward.

"Use a wire. Let's leave them confused as to how they're loosing pieces of themselves," Edward replied.

Jacob pulled a wire from the back pocket of his jeans and wrapped the ends around his hands.

"Careful, Jacob," Edward cautioned. "They're going to attempt to have two burst through at once. One will be fist first and the other feet first."

"Did they flip a coin for it?" Jacob snorted, watching the patch of ceiling above him closely.

"Rock, paper, scissors," Edward chuckled.

"Seriously?" Seth cried.

"No," Edward laughed.

"Wow! Cullen made a joke," Jacob said, whistling at the end. "Hell really is upon us."

"Jacob, shut up," I said, slapping his arm.

"Hey, I didn't tell you to marry Mr. Serious."

"No, you wanted me to marry Mr. Immature Wolf Boy," I shot back.

"Yeah, I did. But I'm glad you didn't," Jacob replied. "It would have ended so badly once I imprinted on Amber. And as much as it _pains_ me to admit it, you and Edward were made for each other."

"Oh, Jake that's so sweet of you to say," I told him.

"Yep! Stubborn and stubborn together forever," Jake said, barely stopping himself from laughing.

Jacob's laughter died as a hand burst through the ceiling and wrapped around his throat. Luckily, it was a loose hold and Jacob was able to get his arms and the wire above his head, slicing the wrist off and dumping himself to the floor. He let out a deep cough as he climbed back up to his feet.

"I told you to be careful," Edward chuckled.

"Bite me, Cullen," Jacob grumbled.

"Wouldn't want to catch your fleas," Edward shot back.

"Children, can we deal with the matter at hand and play fight later?" Seth asked. "There are some body parts begging to be removed right above your heads."

Seth's words had barely finishing ringing on the air when the sound of a saw revving to life reached us. "They're in," Edward said. "It's a small hole, so they're coming in one at a time for now. Emmett's handling it."

It didn't take long before Aro's guards got tired of the one-at-a-time thing and we heard more and more saws come to life. In our room, the idiots were still sticking body parts through the holes and getting them pulled off. Edward had started a fire in the barrel and luckily, the purple smoke was heading straight up and out.

A few minutes passed and we didn't see any more hands or feet protruding through the roof. We also didn't have any more new openings. "Edward, what are they doing?" I asked.

Edward stood still the way only he could do, listening to all of the voices out there. His eyes widened and his roar was loud enough to actually make my ears throb. "JASPER! Get everyone in here!"

Seth flung the door open and Rose and Alice immediately backed their way into the room. Esme, Carlisle, and Jasper followed seconds after.

"Emmett, get your ass in here!" Rose screamed.

"I'm working on it!" Emmett yelled back. "Shit!" he hissed.

"Emmett!" Rose cried, running for the door. Jasper grabbed her around the waist to stop her at the same time Seth reached forward and yanked Emmett backward into the room.

Emmett fell on his butt and made a little dent in the floor. "Shit!" he hissed again.

Rose pulled away from Jasper and wrapped her arms around Emmett's neck, sobbing into his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Rosie," he assured her, rubbing his big hands along her back. "One of the legless ones just bit my leg. That's all."

I folded my legs and let myself drop down completely on Jane's back. "Give me your leg, Em."

Emmett turned, still holding Rosalie in his arms, and dropped his legs across Jane's.

"Get off me, you damn gorilla," Jane howled.

Emmett lifted his leg…and then dropped it across Jane's again. "Shut the hell up before I decide to drop an elbow to your head," Emmett warned her.

I did my best not to laugh as I put my hands on Emmett's leg. It was such an odd sensation to feel the energy coming from Jane, flowing through me, and spreading into Emmett. No one spoke as we watched the teeth marks fade before our eyes.

There was a loud crash and the entire house shook once again…and then there was dead silence, except for Jacob and Seth's breaths and quick heartbeats.

"Carlisle? Are you still alive, old friend?" Aro chuckled from the other side of our door.

"Very much so," Carlisle replied.

Jasper started using hand signals, getting everyone armed and into different places so that I was in the center of all of them. Only this time, they were helping me to protect all of us instead of it being about protecting just me.

"Have you decided if you want Jane back?" Carlisle asked.

"In total tonight, you've killed over a hundred of my guard and permanently injured another twenty. What do you suggest I do with your little barbaric family?"

"Agree to our terms for Jane's release and leave us in peace, once and for all."

"Can we possibly negotiate the secret to those wonderful weapons of yours?" Aro asked, actually sounding hopeful.

"NO!" all ten of us yelled.

"Jane, dear, are you hurt?" Aro asked.

"Don't you _dare_ lie to him," I warned her. "If you do, I'll take your gift away permanently." I doubted I really could manage that, but Jane didn't know I couldn't.

"I'm unharmed, Aro," Jane said. "They've killed Alec," she added, actually managing a bit of a sob.

"Yes, dear, I know. It's a sad thing. We should get you back to the castle so you can grieve properly," Aro told her.

"The chains," I whispered low enough for only Edward to hear.

He flagged Emmett and the two of them quickly unwrapped Jane while I held her from behind, keeping my arms locked around hers. I had a few inches on her so it was easy for me to keep her in my grip while they unchained her. And just like that, the chains disappeared into a backpack and out of view of any vampires stepping into this room—just another item we hoped to keep secret from Aro.

"Do you have the papers drawn up, Carlisle?" Aro asked.

"Ready and waiting," Carlisle replied.

"Will you be passing it under the door, or will I actually get to see you one last time, old friend?"

"You may enter the room. Alone."

"That cannot be done. However, I can enter with only Felix, Demetri and Heidi."

Carlisle looked at Edward. "Every thought is confirming he's going to go through with this deal," Edward said.

Emmett, Jasper, and Rose moved forward with their saws as Seth and Jacob readied themselves to protect the other side of the door. Alice darted forward, opened the door, and then shot behind Jasper.

Aro was standing right in front of the door and he actually had the nerve to smile at us as he entered the room. Felix, Demetri, and Heidi were right behind him—I also caught a glimpse of about twenty pissed off looking vampires filling up the front room.

Carlisle unrolled the paperwork he'd drawn up earlier with Jasper. Edward had explained that as the governing body, the Volturi had to honor their written and verbal words, no exceptions. So as long as a copy of this document was around, we would be untouchable.

Aro took his time reading over the page, his eyes flickering over to Jane and me on more than one occasion. It was a greedy look and I wanted this to all end so he could go back to his damn castle and I'd never have to see him look at me or my family that way again.

"This seems straightforward. We leave you alone, you leave us alone, and we all live in harmony," Aro said with a very fake smile on his face. "But I would like it said that should any of you change your mind in later years, you will be welcome in Volterra. You're determination and show of force here tonight are things of beauty and I would gladly welcome you as additions to my family."

I wanted to tell him where to shove his invitation, but Edward put his hand on my hip and pinched me, warning me to keep my mouth shut. And I listened to him this time, knowing we were close to getting Aro to agree. We just needed him to say it and sign that paper.

"I, Aro of the Volturi, proclaim the Cullen family free to leave Volterra without any recourse upon them for the deaths they brought about tonight. Furthermore, the Cullen family is to be left in peace for eternity. No vampire, Volturi guard or nomad, may go after the Cullen family. The penalty for disobeying will be death to any who defies me." Aro put the paper on the wall and put the pen Carlisle had given him against the page. "I sign my name of my own free will and grant an eternal pardon to the Cullen family."

Aro handed the paper and pen back to Carlisle, who quickly checked it over to make sure it had been signed correctly. "Thank you, Aro," Carlisle told him. "I wish we could have reached this agreement without all of the death and destruction that occurred tonight."

"Remember what I said in the castle, Carlisle. Do not add to your family. If you do, that agreement I just signed will be void and we _will_ come to _visit_," Aro promised.

"We will honor our side of the agreement," Carlisle assured him.

"Jane, dear, let's go home," Aro said, moving toward the doorway.

"I'm going to let you go now," I whispered into her ear. "If you try to use your power on us, I will take it away permanently and you'll be just a normal vampire, no longer useful to Aro. And if you don't have your power, how long do you think Aro will keep you around?"

Jane's shallow breathing hitched and I hoped that meant I had her attention and belief.

"Do we have an understanding?" I whispered.

She nodded her head the slightest bit and that was good enough for me. I took my arms away from her and stepped to the side.

"Bella, would you tell me how you did it?" Aro asked, drawing my attention to him.

"I—"

My refusal to give up my secret was cut off by Jane's shriek. "For Alec!"

I turned just as one of the wires slid into Edward's side and made him cry out in pain. The wire was nearly halfway through his body before I tackled Jane to the floor. I couldn't hear anything over the roar of my own screaming thoughts as my hands encircled her throat. "_Edward! She hurt Edward! Can't let her hurt anyone else!_"

My stubby nails dug through her skin and muscles, ripping and tearing out chunks as my fingers moved to meet in the middle of her neck. I could feel someone grabbing my arms, but no one was going to stop me. Jane had harmed my Edward for the _last_ time. It seemed to take so long to get through it all and pull her head off her neck, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. With a triumphant cry, I held her head up and then threw it into the barrel in the corner. With any luck the fire would still be hot enough to burn that bitch's head.

"That doesn't void anything!" Jasper said quickly.

I knew I should care about what he was saying, but the only thing I could focus on was Edward. I crawled over to him, moving around Carlisle and Esme to get to Edward's head. I gently moved it into my lap and started stroking his bronze hair. "Edward."

"Edward, hold as still as you can while I get it out," Carlisle ordered.

I moved my hands to Edward's shoulders so I could help him hold himself still, while Esme grabbed his legs. He grunted in pain as Carlisle took hold of the wire jutting out of his stomach. Carlisle tried to do it quickly, but Edward had already started to heal around the wire. Carlisle had to rip it back out, tearing through Edward's stomach for the second time. His scream of pain made my ears ring and my heart throb painfully.

I'd never heard Edward in so much pain before and it left me feeling weak and useless…and _human_. I put my head next to his and hugged him the best I could in such an awkward position. I wanted so badly to heal him, but I'd given the excess energy to Emmett earlier when I'd healed his leg. "I'm so sorry, Edward. I should have been watching her closer."

He didn't answer. Edward _always_ answered me, even if it was just a sigh or a growl.

I lifted my head and looked down at him. His eyes were closed and his body was completely still, as if he were sleeping. "Edward? Open your eyes, Edward," I demanded.

"Bella, he can't," Carlisle said softly, putting his hand on mine.

"Carlisle, what's wrong with him?" I cried.

"Nothing that we can't fix," Carlisle assured me. "He's very weak, but he'll be just fine. We need to get him out of here and fed."

"Then, let's go," I said, wrapping my arms under Edward's. "I'll help you carry him."

"Bella, we have to get Aro to agree the deal isn't voided first," Carlisle said, stopping me from moving. "Just wait here with Esme and Edward. I'll get him to agree. I promise you."

I felt both numb and full of pain as I watched Carlisle get up and walk over to Jasper and Aro. This wasn't part of the plan. The plan had been to capture Jane, ransom her, and go home. Nowhere in that plan did it call for Edward getting hurt. This was all my fault!

"Don't you dare," Rose hissed in my ear as she put her arms around me. "I can see it written on your face. It isn't your fault and Edward will be furious to know you thought it was for even a second. You did all you could to save us, Bella."

"He warned me, Rose," I argued, shaking my head. "He warned me not to underestimate her and I took my eyes off of her. It just took a second."

"Bella, calm down," Alice pleaded, hugging me from the opposite side. "Edward's going to be okay."

"You can't know that. You can't _see_ anything right now," I whispered carefully, not wanting Aro to know of our disadvantage.

"Heal him," Rose whispered.

"I can't," I choked out. "I don't have any extra left."

"Take it from me," Rose insisted.

"And me," Alice added.

"Your husbands will _kill_ me," I argued.

"Take just enough to get Edward alert," Rose said. "It shouldn't take that much."

"Take from me as well," Esme demanded.

I looked over at Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett. They were all talking to Aro, Felix, and Demetri. "I can't risk it. We might need you guys to fight."

Jacob's warm hands settled on my shoulders and his lips grazed my ear. "Take it from me. You know how quickly I heal. Even if they start something, you guys can protect me while I finish healing."

I tilted my head to the side to see Jake's face. "Are you sure?"

"Can you live without him?" he asked.

"No," I sobbed.

"Then do it, Bella. Take whatever you need to get him alert and talking to you," Jacob ordered.

I nodded my head as I tried to find the courage within me to do this and do it right. I'd never used this against a creature other than our kind and I wasn't even sure if it would work. "Okay," I breathed, trying to think of everything. "Rose, put your hand on Edward's mouth. I don't know how he'll react to this and we don't want to get Aro's attention. Esme, sit on his legs. We don't want him moving either. Alice, I need you to stand in front of Jacob in case he needs to lean on you to stay standing."

"Why don't I just sit?" Jake asked.

"Because it might catch Aro's attention," I replied. "I don't know how much attention he's paying to us. I can't use Edward's gift if he's not alert to use it himself."

"How many friggin' powers do you have, Bells?" Jake whispered, sounding a bit awed.

"Later, Jacob," I told him. "Now, stand up straight and stay directly behind me. I'm going to grab your ankle, and with any luck no one will notice us over here." I took a deep breath and then grabbed Jake's ankle.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying out. Jake's energy was completely different from a vampire's. With Jane, it had been a soft, evenly-paced throbbing sensation. With Jake, it was wild and erratic and felt more like giant shocks to my system. I wasn't sure I would be able to tell if I was taking too much from him and that made me nervous—but Edward needed my help.

I slipped my free hand under Edward's shirt, touching the scarred tissue on his backside. The wire had had sliced completely through his front and back before lodging in the middle of him—I bit my cheek again, forcing myself not to sob at the feel of so much damage.

As slowly and carefully as I could, I let a little of Jacob's energy flow through me and into Edward. I did my best not to recoil from the shock of that untamed energy roaring through me. It seemed the more I tried to slow it down, the harder it bit at me. I ended up having to let it go at its own speed to keep from having my own body jerked around. After the fourth burst of energy passed through me, Edward's eyes flew open and his back tried to arch up from the ground. I could tell from the way Rose was pressing against his mouth that he was trying to scream. I immediately cut off the connection with Jacob and brought both of my hands to Edward's cheeks, rubbing them softly and trying to soothe him.

Rose and Esme moved so that anyone looking our way would be completely blocked from seeing Edward.

"Ssh! It's okay, Edward. Just try to relax," I whispered.

"Bella," he managed through gritted teeth. "It's burning."

"It'll pass, Edward."

"What did you do to me?"

"Jake let me take from him to help you. We can't leave to feed you because I killed Jane. Carlisle and the others are trying to negotiate with Aro, but I don't know if he'll agree to let us go."

"I don't know which to focus on first," he grunted. "Why did Jake help?"

"Other than you being my best friend's husband?" Jacob snorted.

I looked up at him, hoping he was okay. His skin was a little ashy and he was leaning on Alice heavily, but he didn't seem in danger of dying. I'd have to call this little experiment a success.

"I figured it was the least I could do. That was my wire Jane grabbed," Jacob admitted. "I figure the burning is because the damn thing was coated with venom from all those vamps I amputated tonight."

"Your energy burns, too," I told him.

"Cool," Jacob said, nodding his head a little.

Edward turned his head and pressed against my hand, trying to get my attention and succeeding. "You killed Jane?" he questioned.

"Yes," I sighed. "I'm sorry, Edward. I heard you scream and I lost it. I think someone tried to stop me, but all I could think about was stopping her from hurting anyone else."

"Emmett tried to stop you," Rose told me. "And he couldn't even get your hands off of her."

"And now we're all in danger again," I sighed, pressing my cheek against Edward's. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Edward whispered, rubbing his cheek against mine just a little. He was still so very weak, but I didn't want to risk taking anything more from Jacob. And if Edward was overly healed, Aro would definitely notice.

"But it is. If I just would have let her head fall to the ground, they could have healed her and we could have been out of here. But I just had to go and toss it in the damn fire," I muttered.

"Crime of passion then," Aro announced loudly. "It pains me greatly to be without Alec _and_ Jane. But I cannot fault Bella for this. Jane attacked and Bella defended her mate. It's a sad and wasteful loss."

"Thank you, Aro. We'll be on our way now. We need to get Edward fed," Carlisle said.

"Feel free to stop in and visit if you ever find yourself in Volterra again," Aro offered. "Good night, old friend."

And just like that, Aro and his remaining guards disappeared into the night. Although, it wasn't really night anymore. It had only seemed that way because of the number of vampires that had been surrounding the door to this room. Now that they were gone, I could see past the door and into the yard, where the first faint rays of dawn were trying to touch the ground. They'd completely knocked down the front of the house.

"It's dawn!" Alice shrieked excitedly, shaking my arm. "We made it through the night!" she laughed.

Jasper swept her up into his arms and spun her around once before giving her a sound kiss on the lips. Carlisle bent down and kissed Esme's cheek, while Emmett pulled Rosalie up and then bent her backwards, giving her a greedy kiss on the lips.

"Not to break up the celebration or anything, but can we _please_ get Edward fed first?" I begged.

"Sure thing, Picky," Emmett chuckled. "We need to pack up first, so you just keep him entertained until I come to load him in the car."

Jasper, Emmett, Jacob, and Seth collected all of the wires and saws and took them away. Rose, Esme, and Alice stayed at my side while Carlisle lifted the tattered remains of Edward's shirt and checked his side.

"I don't understand why the scarring is so intense," Carlisle muttered to himself.

"It was a used wire," I told him. "Covered in venom."

"Then I'm afraid these scars will remain," Carlisle said with a deep frown.

"Jake's energy doesn't work like vampire energy," I said. "It woke Edward up, but it didn't do anything for the scar. Not like when Jane's energy faded your shoulder and nearly took away Emmett's bite mark."

Carlisle sat next to us, looking off into the distance. I knew that look. He was turning something over in his mind. "Emmett, Jasper, get in here!" Carlisle suddenly yelled, looking excited.

They came running with Jacob and Seth hot on their heels. "What's wrong?" Emmett asked, looking around for something to beat up.

"Hold my hand," Carlisle instructed.

"Dad, I love you and all, but hand-holding is kinda gay," Emmett replied.

"Emmett, do what he says now!" Rose demanded.

"Yes, Baby," Emmett said, grabbing Carlisle's hand immediately.

"Jasper?" Carlisle called, holding out his free hand. Jasper took it, looking just as puzzled as I felt.

"Quickly, girls! Take Jasper and Emmett's hands and grab Bella. We have to make a full circle," Carlisle ordered. "Bella, take from all of us and focus it directly on the scars. Put a hand on his chest and back, right on top of the scars."

"Carlisle, what if we need to fight?" I argued.

"Aro can't. He signed our papers and agreed Jane's death didn't void anything," Carlisle assured me. "The fight for our freedom ended with the night. So just relax and listen to me, Bella. When you healed my shoulder, it had been well over an hour and I think that's why mine didn't fade nearly as much as Emmett's bite. It's only been about fifteen minutes with Edward, so there's a great chance you can fade it to almost nothing. There's no time to waste, Bella. Pull from all of us and give it a try."

"I've never pulled from more than one at a time! I don't know if I can control it!" I cried.

"Bella," Edward said, sounding so very tired. He wasn't supposed to ever sound that way. He was a vampire. _My_ vampire! My super-hero.

"Edward, I don't know if I can control it," I said, looking down into his black eyes.

He somehow managed to get his arm up and press his hand to my cheek. I grabbed it with both of mine and held it in place. "Isabella, I have faith in you," he whispered. His eyes were so intense and filled with belief and hope that I wished I could cry, just to let out an ounce of the feeling he was giving to me.

I nodded my head stiffly and then moved my hands to his chest and back, just like Carlisle had told me. I closed my eyes as Esme and Alice grabbed my shoulders.

**The End**.

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**So how many of you wanted to kill me when you saw that? Hee Hee. What kind of Halloween would it be without a good scare??**

**Bella's POV:**

My eyes flew open once again as the energy slammed into me, knocking my head back onto my shoulders. Edward and I both cried out as the sensation throbbed strongly through both of us. And then my cry became one of fear because with so many touching me, I couldn't feel where the energy safely stopped. I tried to pull away and unplug from them, but I couldn't move. All I could do was pray that Carlisle was watching closely and would see something was wrong.

And my prayers were answered as the energy abruptly disappeared. I was panting heavily as I lifted my head up—it felt heavy, like it weighed so much more than any of my other body parts. Carlisle was grinning; Esme, Rose, and Alice looked flustered; Jasper was leaning against the wall; and Emmett was kneeling on the floor near Edward's feet, grinning for all he was worth.

I forced myself to look down and see if Carlisle's idea had worked. I gasped at what I saw.

My shaking fingers reached out to touch Edward's chest, needing to verify that what I was seeing was real. The thick, puckered scar that had been there just a minute before was gone and had been replaced with a thin silver line that faintly glittered in the early morning light streaming through the doorway.

Edward's hands were suddenly gripping my face, pulling my lips down to his. He gave me a fiery kiss—the sort of kiss that made it hard to believe he'd been so weak just moments before.

"Edward, behave," Carlisle cautioned. "You still need to eat."

Edward let me go, giving me his crooked smile. I'd never seen a sight more beautiful in all my life and I sobbed from the intensity of it.

"Emmett, get him in the car," Carlisle ordered.

"Please be careful with him, Em," I begged as I watched my brother lift Edward.

"I'll treat him like the princess he is," Emmett chuckled.

Jacob, Seth, and Jasper laughed openly while the rest of us did our best to chuckle quietly. We followed Emmett out of the house and as soon as Emmett laid Edward on the seat, I climbed in and put his head into my lap again.

"Bells, Seth and I have to get going," Jacob said, standing in the doorway.

"Thank you for coming, Jake. And thank you for what you did for Edward," I told him.

"Sure, sure," Jacob said, smiling wide. "Anytime you want some vampire butt kicked, I'm your wolf."

"How about you just go home and be a husband and daddy instead?" I suggested, smiling at him.

"Yeah, I think I'd like those roles better for awhile," Jacob agreed. He leaned inside and hugged me tightly, covering me in his woodsy scent and overwhelming warmth. I breathed deeply, determined to never forget his smell again.

Jacob let me go and put his hand on Edward's shoulder. "You do as your told until you're healed and then you do something special for this amazing wife of yours."

"I plan to," Edward replied. "Thank you, Jacob. Once again, I owe you."

"Nah," Jacob chuckled. "We'll just call it even for me leaving the wire on the floor. And for me being a jerk in the past."

"Be safe, Jacob Black. And don't be a stranger," Edward said, gripping Jacob's hand.

"You know I can't the same because of the baby and all, but if things were different…" Jacob shrugged. "Anyway! We have to get going. Amber's expecting us back tomorrow and we have a lot of miles to cover."

Jacob moved away and Seth replaced him. He gave me a big hug before carefully shaking Edward's hand. "If you guys don't mind, I'd like to come visit. At least until I have a reason to spend more time on the Res," Seth said.

"Seth, you're always welcome," I told him. "You guys will always be a part of our family."

"Honorary Cullens! Cool!" Seth said, smiling wide.

Jacob shook his head as he hooked his arm around Seth's neck and pulled him away. "Come on, Seth. We've got to see a man about a boat."

"Do you need money or anything?" I asked.

"Nope," Jacob replied, popping the "p". "We have our own connections, Mrs. Cullen."

"See you around, Mr. Black," I chuckled.

"So!" Alice chirped, appearing near Edward's feet. "Where to first? Catalonia, Monaco, or Gloucester?"

"I think Gloucester would be good," Rose offered, leaning an arm on Alice's small shoulder. "We could rent a house in the quiet, gloomy country-side and just enjoy the slow pace for a week or so."

"Everyone get in," Jasper instructed, sliding into the driver's seat. "We can discuss destinations once we get the hell out of Italy."

"Jasper, what's going to happen to the house?" I asked, as our family piled in around us.

"The demo crew should be here any minute. They have strict instructions to knock it all down and haul it off. Whether we would have survived or not, I didn't want Aro having any piece of this house to look over and figure out how I'd done it. The crew is going to turn it to rubble and ship the pieces to Romania, where it'll be melted down and reused to make other things."

"You really did think of everything. Thank you, Jasper," I told him.

"Thanks, Jasper!" everyone echoed.

He chuckled as he sped down the dirt road. "Just doing my job for my family."

"What's going to happen to the wires and saws?" Rose asked.

"We'll lock those away in one of the vaults. Just as a precaution," Jasper replied.

"Can I use my saw for my Halloween costume this year?" Emmett asked.

"Emmett!" we all yelled.

Had I not lived through it, and if that silver scar wasn't right in my line of sight, I might never have believed we'd actually faced the Volturi and _won_. By some miracle, we had survived the night and we were finally, completely free of Aro. As long as we had proof of our treaty with him, we would always be safe. And I had no doubt in my mind that Carlisle, Jasper, and Edward would make damn sure there was always a copy of that paper, no matter what else happened in our eternity together as a family. It was definitely good to be a Cullen!

**The End for Real.**

**Happy Halloween!!!!**

**Special thanks to Hellopants. She gave me the tip on the diamond-studding and let me bounce ideas off of her as I was writing. I hope you all enjoyed this fun little spoof.  
**


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